Stone Sickness
by Cheezey
Summary: Inspired by the episode Mask of Gorgon and takes place the day afterward.
1. Part One

**_Stone Sickness_**

Part One

Normally when the night hour grew late and dawn was near, Skytomb was quiet.Though Lunatacs enjoyed the dark and dangerous elements of the night, it was rare for them to not be asleep at that hour, and even rarer for there to be any sort of noise aside from the constant grumble of the furnaces and the hum of heavy machinery.Therefore when the sound of loud, agonizing cries came from Chilla's room, it awoke everyone on the floor with a start.

RedEye was the first in the hallway, followed by Alluro a moment later. They were both at Chilla's door in a flash."Chilla!What's going on in there?" RedEye shouted, banging on the door."Chilla?"

He was answered with a groan, followed by a loud thump.

Alluro pressed the release button the automated door that led to her quarters.He hoped she didn't have it locked.If she did, and she wasn't able to release it, they'd have to somehow override the security system, which could cost time he wasn't sure they had.Fortunately it wasn't an issue, for the door slid open as soon as he engaged the release mechanism.He and RedEye immediately ran inside.

The sight before their eyes was a disturbing one.Chilla lay on the floor, grunting and moaning, clutching her abdomen as though she was in immense pain.Alluro was the first to reach her side."Chilla!What happened?What's the matter?" he asked her, a note of concern in his usually arrogant voice.

Her jaw quivered between labored breaths, and her raspy voice came in gasps that made it clear that her pain was enough to make speaking difficult."Hurts.Can't make it stop."

"Is she sick?" RedEye asked, more to Alluro than to Chilla.She didn't seem to be in the condition to give a coherent answer.

Alluro laid a hand against her forehead.Her normally cool skin felt warm.Not really hot, but warmer than it should have been, and given that she was an ice Lunatac, that worried him."She may have a fever.Help me get her into bed, RedEye."He put his arm around her shoulder while RedEye slid an arm around her hips, taking care not to hit the area she was gripping in pain.They set the groaning Chilla down on the bed just as a very tired-looking, grouchy TugMug poked his head in the doorway.

"What in the name of the Moons is all this racket?" demanded the irate Lunatac. 

"Chilla's sick," RedEye answered. 

"Can't she be sick quietly?" grumbled TugMug."I'm not feeling so hot either, and I could use the sleep.I've got a splitting headache and my stomach feels like I swallowed the slime on Castle Plundarr's moat.So keep it down in here!"

RedEye frowned. "I hope this isn't catching."

Alluro ignored TugMug for the time being and propped a pillow under Chilla's head."When did this start, Chilla?You seemed all right earlier."

Chilla winced and tried to muster up the energy to answer.The truth was she _hadn't been all right earlier, but she had done her best to hide that fact from the others.To show weakness of any sort in front of another of her kind was not only an embarrassment, but in some circumstances, downright unwise.The pain had started late that afternoon, but at the time she thought it little more than a muscle cramp that would go away on its own.She and TugMug had spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon participating in yet another of Mumm-Ra's ill-fated schemes, and had thanks to him been the test subjects in one of his spells.The effects had been reversed when the Thundercats defeated him (like they always did, she thought with some bitterness), but she supposed it had taken its toll on her in some way, for shortly before sunset she started to feel the pain._

At first it was a twinge in her gut, almost like a stomach cramp, but with something else.She tried to alleviate the pain by eating some biscuits and drinking some of Luna's herbal teas—their leader had several jars of herbs that she steeped into teas as a recreational sort of drink—but it failed to make her feel any better.An hour passed and she started to feel worse.Another hour after that she was in so much pain she could hardly walk.She excused herself from the others and went to the med room, but realized to her dismay that she couldn't tell one medicine or concoction from another.It was always either Alluro or Luna that prepared them, and she was loath to admit to either that she was in serious enough a condition to ask for help.So she instead turned to a painkiller she knew would work.A nice tall glass of TugMug's specially brewed ale, which actually had almost four times the alcohol content of a standard brew.She downed the glass in three gulps, and stumbled into bed, with the hopes that whatever it was, it would pass in her sleep.

It didn't.

Instead of a restful sleep or even a dreamless oblivion, she suffered long and twisted nightmares.She was surrounded by fire, weak and powerless, with mocking faceless voices all about her.Unseen, unidentifiable weapons lashed out at her, and while she ran and ran to get away from them, she never got anywhere, and the pressure kept building and building.And the pain got worse.And worse.And worse.

She didn't know she had been screaming in her sleep until she awakened, sprawled out on the floor and clutching at her midsection in agony.She felt like her insides were on fire, like that horrible lava that Mumm-Ra had once sealed her in all those years ago was being poured inside her body at that very moment, hardening and contracting as it touched her, killing her with a combination of fire and stone.

She was barely aware, but vaguely glad, when Alluro and RedEye burst into her room.They fired questions at her that she had trouble answering, but she offered no resistance at their efforts, futile as they might have been, to comfort her.She had some awareness of TugMug shouting indecipherable rants from the doorway, but she didn't really hear what he'd said, and had a feeling she wouldn't have cared even if she could.

"Chilla!Chilla, can you hear me?"She was shaken out of her thoughts to see a startled Alluro above her, demanding her attention once more.RedEye was behind him, silent as he often was, but watching her intently.

"Yes," she said with effort, and took a couple of deep breaths.

"When did this happen?How long have you been like this?"

"Don't know.Felt kind of sick and laid down.Just… just woke up now."

"Sick how?" asked RedEye.

Chilla winced again as a pain from her abdomen shot up the length of her body."It hurts.Here."She gestured to her midsection.

Alluro laid his hand on her forehead for a moment, frowning as if deep in thought, then withdrew it quickly. He smoothly rose to his feet and gestured for RedEye to go out into the hall."I'll be back shortly, Chilla.In the meantime just stay in bed and don't move."He then walked toward the door and exited the room, RedEye with him.

"Do you know what's the matter with her?" RedEye asked.

"It's hard to say," Alluro replied."I'm no healer.But given the sort of pain she's describing, the feverish symptoms, and the fast onset, I'm wondering if she hasn't contracted some sort of infection… or if she's been poisoned."

RedEye blinked with surprise."Poison?Who'd do that?"He glanced down the dark hallway for a moment, then lowered his voice."You think Luna might have done it?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Alluro thought for a moment, then answered."I wouldn't say she isn't capable of it, but I highly doubt it.It's not Luna's style, for one, and secondly I can't figure a reason as to _why she'd do it."_

"Who, then?" RedEye wondered."Not either of us, and I doubt TugMug would have done it.The Thundercats would never do something so 'dishonorable' as that, so that would only leave the mutants or," he paused for a moment, "Mumm-Ra."The dark mage's name hung in the ensuing silence like a curse for several moments until RedEye spoke again."He did call Chilla and TugMug to aid him today."

Alluro nodded."And didn't TugMug say just now that he wasn't feeling well either? Something about his stomach bothering him?"

"I think we'd better find out exactly what Mumm-Ra involved them in today."

"You get TugMug," Alluro told RedEye."I'm going to find Luna.She's got night watch, and it's nearly dawn anyhow.Meet us in the control room."With that Alluro turned and headed for the lift.

He arrived in the control room to find Amok snacking on some candy fruit jelly-covered toast and Luna absent-mindedly playing a computer game on one of the smaller monitors."Luna," Alluro spoke as he entered, "I think we have a problem."

The surprised Luna nearly jumped out of her seat at the unexpected sound of a voice in the doorway."Alluro, you startled me," she said, then glanced at the clock."You're up early.What's going on?What's the problem?"

"Chilla is very ill.She was in enough pain that her cries woke all of us up.I'm not sure what's the matter, but I have reason to believe she may have been poisoned or otherwise infected… and I suspect it's Mumm-Ra's doing."

"Mumm-Ra?" Luna raised an eyebrow and her voice took on a note of annoyance.

Alluro nodded."She was fine before she and TugMug left for the pyramid after he summoned for two of us this morning.And she said that it was this evening—not long after she came back—that she started to feel pains in her stomach.That's why she retired to her quarters early, I imagine."

Luna tapped Amok to stand and had him bring her over toward Alluro."You say she's ill.How bad is she?Do you think she'll recover?"

"It's hard to say," Alluro replied quietly."That would be a question to ask a healer, not a hypnotist.But I think it goes without saying that we need to find out exactly what caused her condition and do what we can to remedy it as soon as possible.Especially if it's something that worthless bag of bones did.And since TugMug mentioned that he wasn't feeling well either, it is rather suspect."

"Where is TugMug, anyway?"

"Right here, Luna," answered TugMug from the doorway in a tired and irritable voice."Though I'd rather be in bed."

"And you can go there as soon as you tell us what happened to you and Chilla today," Luna informed him."Alluro seems to think that Chilla was poisoned by Mumm-Ra, and that you may have been too."

"I know, RedEye told me," TugMug grumbled, rolling his eyes with annoyance."Mumm-Ra didn't feed us anything, so we weren't poisoned.In fact we barely saw him.He had us go to the warrior maidens' territory to get some ancient mask out of a tree.Chilla and I both thought it was a stupid and pointless job, one he should have done himself."

"Laziness always was one of Mumm-Ra's flaws," Luna remarked.

"That wasn't the worst of it," TugMug continued."The mask was spooky… just from handling it you could tell it was charged with black magic or something.It was all silver, with these green copper snake carvings coming out of the top like hair, and its eyes were closed.That is, until Chilla commented on it… and then the mask came to life all on its own.Its eyes somehow opened and sprayed some kind of smoke on her.When it cleared, she was stone."

"Stone?" Alluro repeated in mild disbelief.

"You mean she was frozen in place?" RedEye asked.

"No, I mean she was stone," TugMug insisted."As in not flesh.A statue.A very lifelike statue wearing her clothing, but not alive."

A shocked look crossed Alluro's features."My gods… Mumm-Ra's mask turned her to stone?" 

TugMug nodded and winced slightly.It was clear that he was not feeling well either, though he didn't make any more of an issue of it than he had earlier."Not just her.When I saw what it did to Chilla, I turned the damned mask over to face the ground and tried to get the hell out of there.I'm not going to be a guinea pig for Mumm-Ra's half-assed magic," he explained."But I didn't make it.I heard a noise behind me, and I made the mistake of looking back.The mask somehow stood itself up and faced me… and opened its eyes.They were red, the same kind of red as Mumm-Ra's.Before I knew it I was surrounded in the same smoke that got Chilla, and I couldn't move.Next thing I know it was hours later and Chilla and I were both restored… I don't know how, but we saw that Thundercat signal in the sky so our guess was that the Thundercats did something to stop whatever it was Mumm-Ra was up to and reversed the spell.That's when we came back."

RedEye shook his head in disgust."Where does Mumm-Ra get off testing his magic on us?"

"I don't know," Alluro said, also clearly angry, "but whatever spell that was that turned you two to stone, I'm betting that's what's wrong with Chilla.And probably you too." 

Luna studied TugMug for a moment."Yes, but you don't seem to be affected as badly as Alluro told me that Chilla was.I wonder why that would be."

"Perhaps that's something we should ask our dear friend Mumm-Ra," Alluro said, and headed toward the hallway."I'm going to look in on Chilla and see if she's gotten better or worse."

TugMug shrugged at Luna's question and also started for the doorway with Alluro.A brief expression of discomfort flashed across his face, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the others."I don't know, but if it's all the same to you I'd rather try and ponder it after getting a good night's sleep.I may not be as bad off as Chilla but I still feel like a pile of mutant crap."

Luna nodded dismissively in his direction."Yes, get some sleep," she instructed her rotund subordinate."I'm sure you need it."She then turned to glare at the monitor and sighed with disgust."Thanks a lot, Mumm-Ra," she muttered.

***

The break of dawn arrived no more peacefully at Cat's Lair than it had at Skytomb.Panthro awakened to a pain in his stomach so intense that it was able to bring even the mighty Panthro to his knees.He had barely managed to stumble into the hallway before he collapsed and fell against the wall and floor with a thud.

The sound of Panthro's fall brought Cheetara and Tygra running.Immediately the two Thundercats got their friend onto his feet and helped him back to bed.Tygra sent Cheetara to find Lion-O, but unfortunately she found her lord in the same, if not slightly worse, condition.

Lion-O was twisted into a fetal position in his uneasy sleep, his knees drawn tightly to his midsection and his powerful arms clutching desperately at his knees.His head was covered with beads of a feverish sweat, and his breathing was punctuated with low groans of discomfort."Oh, Lion-O," Cheetara whispered worriedly, and sat at his bedside.She laid a gentle golden-furred hand on his brow for a moment, and felt the heat of a burning fever.Now more concerned than ever, she gave him a gentle shake."Wake up, Lion-O," she urged.

The Thundercat lord grunted and rolled slightly, then groaned loudly at the resulting pain of the movement.He opened his eyes and saw the concerned gaze of Cheetara above him."Cheetara?"

"Lion-O, what's the matter?What's wrong with you?" she asked.

Lion-O sat up, and groaned in pain at the effort."My stomach," he answered."Never hurt like this before.Started last night and it's gotten worse.Oh, Cheetara…"

"Shhh, save your energy," Cheetara urged, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze."I'm going to go call Pumyra, and she'll find out what's the matter with you.Don't get out of bed."

"Okay," he agreed weakly, and rolled back over.

"I'll be back soon," she told him, and then was back in the hallway in a flash.She saw the door to Panthro's room was open and Tygra inside helping Panthro back into bed.Tygra turned when he heard her approach."Where's Lion-O?"

"He's sick too.I don't think he can get out of bed.He said it was his stomach."

"Just like me," grumbled Panthro, who then winced in pain."What in blazes is the matter with us?"

"Could be a Third Earth flu or disease that we haven't yet encountered," Tygra theorized."Or perhaps something in food you ate?The fact that you and Lion-O were both affected so suddenly and at the same time makes me thing it's definitely something external in origin."

There was a sound of rushing feet out in the hallway and two more heads poked into the doorway."Panthro?Tygra?Cheetara?"

"WilyKit?WilyKat?" Cheetara asked, turning to see the distressed faces of the Thunderkittens greeting them.Cheetara suddenly got a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong.Both kittens looked upset, and though she couldn't quite tell, it appeared that they had been crying. "What's the matter, kittens?"

"Snarf just sent us up," WilyKat started, a somber note in his voice."He wanted us to find you. Is Lion-O up too?"

"Lion-O's still in bed," Tygra answered, not opting to give out any more details until he could find out what was troubling the kittens."What's going on?"

"Snarf told us to tell you…" WilyKat's voice trailed off and he looked away, searching for the right way to phrase the news he was sent to give.

"Willa's dead," WilyKit blurted out, finishing the sentence that WilyKat was unable to.

"What?" Cheetara said, amid gasps of shock from both Tygra and the sick Panthro.

"But I just saw her yesterday," Panthro said, struggling to sit up in bed.

"What happened to her?" Tygra asked the kittens gently.He felt a great wave of sadness build inside him.Willa was a valued friend and it hurt deeply to realize that he would never see her again.

"Snarf just got a communication from Nayda a little while ago," WilyKit explained sadly."Willa got sick late last night.She had a fever and Nayda said she was screaming about a 'fire in her stomach'.They put her in the healing hut and had their best medicine woman try to help her, but nothing worked."Despite their sadness at the news, Cheetara and Tygra exchanged worried looks.The symptoms were eerily like those of Panthro and Lion-O."And then this morning," the kitten continued quietly, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes, "they learned that she died in her sleep."

"Oh no.Poor Willa…" Cheetara lowered her head in mourning for the loss of their ally and close friend. 

WilyKat then noticed Panthro's condition."Panthro, are you all right?What's wrong?"

"Just a stomach ache," answered the tired panther. 

"Oh no!" gasped both kittens in unison.The same thoughts that ran through Tygra's head now ran through theirs.

"Now wait a minute… it's not necessarily what happened to Willa," Tygra told the kids."Let's not jump to conclusions."

"That's right," Cheetara agreed, even though she knew in her heart that it _was the same thing, and that they should be worried._

Both kittens fell silent for several moments.WilyKat looked down the hallway for a moment, then ended it."Well, I guess we gotta wake up Lion-O and tell him." 

"Wait, Kittens.I don't think that would be a good idea.Lion-O is…" Cheetara faltered for a moment, searching for a delicate way to phrase it, "Lion-O is sick too."

"He is?" 

"What's the matter?"

Not wanting to alarm the sick Panthro unduly, Tygra ushered the kittens out into the hallway.Cheetara instructed Panthro to remain in bed and rest, then closed the door and joined Tygra and the kids."I don't want to scare the two of you," Tygra began, "but it seems that whatever is the matter with Panthro is also affecting Lion-O.Cheetara and I woke up when Panthro fell ill."

"I went to get Lion-O to tell him what was wrong, but when I got to his room, he was too sick to get out of bed himself," Cheetara added.

WilyKit met Tygra's eyes solemnly."What's wrong with Lion-O?"

"He also has stomach pains," Tygra said after a deep breath."That's why I want you two to contact Pumyra right now and ask her to come over.She is the only one of us with true healing skills, and I want her to take a look at them.In the meantime, I'm going to examine them both, ask them questions, and see what I can find out."

"I'll go with the kittens and tell Snarf what's happened," Cheetara volunteered.Tygra nodded in agreement, and the two kids and Cheetara hurried down the hall, while Tygra returned to Panthro's room.As he walked in and saw the first rays of dawn cast across his friend's bed, he could clearly see the haggard and pained expression on his face.Tygra took a deep breath and thought again about what the kittens said had happened to Willa.He prayed in the name of the Eye of Thundera that somehow he could stop his friend and his lord from sharing her fate.

***

"NO!" Chilla shrieked at the top of her lungs, her gravelly voice rising to a shrill level in the throes of her agony.She thrashed in her bed and threw the flask of herbal medicine that Amok was trying to force-feed her right back at Luna.

"You have to take it, Chilla," Luna screeched back at her."Your fever is too high.Alluro said it's seven degrees above normal.Seven degrees, Chilla.I'm sure you don't need me to tell you how serious that is."

"You don't understand!It _hurts!"What Chilla was trying to convey in her feverish hysteria was that she was in far too much pain to put anything in her stomach.What had been incredible pain early that morning had now graduated into sheer agony.She had vomited several times, but nothing came up except for a burning combination of acid, bile, and something cloudy that even Alluro could not identify.Making it worse was that when she did heave, her entire abdomen felt like something was driving razors through her internal organs.She never wanted to eat again, much less take some herbal remedy of Luna's that would probably just make her feel worse._

Luna was losing her patience.She deeply resented the fact that she was going out of her way to actually help the other Lunatac and that she was repaying her for her generosity by acting like such a miserable bitch.She would have left her to stew in her misery and die, but Chilla's value as a warrior was too high to let go.They had few enough advantages against their enemies as it was, and no matter how insufferable she was, she had to admit that Chilla was useful enough to be worth keeping."You will take it, even if I have to have Amok shove it down your throat and—"

"Luna!"Alluro's unusually stern and forceful voice silenced her rant in an instant."What in the name of the Moons is the matter with you?"

"I'm trying to help," she snapped."Or are you too stupid to see that too?"

Alluro exhaled and tried to keep a lid on his own temper.He was at his wit's end.He had no idea what was even the matter with Chilla, and he certainly had no leads as to how to remedy it."Making her fight you isn't helping," he pointed out.He looked at Chilla, writhing around in discomfort on her bed, her sheets and most of her clothing now stripped from her because of her dangerously high fever, and tried to fight back a feeling of hopelessness.

"She's trying to kill me!" raged the delirious Chilla.

Luna frowned with aggravation."Oh, for crying out loud…"

Alluro took the flask of herbal medicine from Amok's hands and set it down on a shelf that functioned as her nightstand."Luna, leave.Take a walk, go do something, I don't care what, but just go, all right?"

"Fine with me," Luna snapped.She prodded Amok to take her to the door, only to be stopped by RedEye on his way in.

"What now?" Alluro asked RedEye, dreading the answer.

"TugMug's worse," the red-eyed Lunatac informed him."He won't get out of bed.I don't think he _can."_

Alluro sighed."That's just great.So now they're both sick."

"There's something else," RedEye continued.He held out his large pale-skinned hand and opened his fingers.In his palm sat a rounded pebble.

Alluro glanced at it and frowned."It's a rock, so what?"

"TugMug threw it up."

"And you picked it out?" Luna asked incredulously."Oh, disgusting!"

RedEye glanced at Luna briefly with an annoyed look on his face, then turned to Alluro."It was in the sink in his bathroom from the last time he threw up.I thought it was something important so I rinsed it off and brought it to you."

"He must have eaten something with a stone in it.Strange.Why would he do that?"

RedEye just shrugged and headed back through the door.He really didn't care to see Chilla sick.It wasn't so much concern for her as the simple fact that it unnerved him.Luna, fed up with the situation herself, followed him with Amok, leaving only Alluro in the room with Chilla.He walked over to her bedside."Luna left.I'll see to it that she leaves you alone for now."

Chilla let out a little grunt and rolled over, taking the effort to open her eyes and meet his.He was startled to see a wild, terrified expression in them and the rims filled with tears of fright and pain.He realized then how incredibly painful her condition must have been for her to willingly show such weakness."She wants to kill me," she murmured."Don't let her kill me."

Alluro offered a reassuring smile."I won't let her harm you."

She reached up and grasped his hand with surprising force."I don't want to die," she rasped, then arched her back as a fresh wave of pain shot through her body and groaned loudly."Don't let me die," she pleaded, a tear spilling down her cheek."Don't let me—"

"I won't."He squeezed her hand back and knelt beside her, and reached a hand to brush a stray lock of her white hair away from her face.Her skin felt eerily warm, indicating to his dismay that her fever still hadn't dropped.She closed her tired eyes, grateful for the tender touch, and rested her head against the pillow once more.As she slipped back into her restless sleep his fingers caressed her jaw, far more affectionately than he would have allowed himself to do if Luna or RedEye was still present, and felt a rush of emotion for her.More so than any of the others, she meant something to him.She was his friend, sometimes his lover, but always the one he was closest to."No Chilla, I won't let you die," he vowed, his voice barely above a whisper.When he could stand to look at her no more, let his fingers fall from her face, placed a gentle kiss on the slender blue fingers her hand, and started for the door.

On the way out, he spied the stone that RedEye said TugMug had thrown up. He picked up the pebble, which was about the size and shape of a small nut, and frowned as he recalled TugMug's words from earlier that morning.

_"And then the mask came to life all on its own.Its eyes somehow opened and sprayed some kind of smoke on her.When it cleared, she was stone."_

Stone.Just like the little rock in his hands.The stone that had come from TugMug, who had been turned to stone along with Chilla.By the same mummy that sealed them in stone years ago, as a matter of fact, and by the same mummy that even lived in a pyramid made of stone.Alluro stood in the hallway for several minutes, seething with rage and pent-up frustration directed at the stone-loving mage who had so callously turned his fellow Lunatacs into statues the day before.His heart burned with a fierce determination and he stormed down the hallway.It was time to have a little talk with Mumm-Ra.

***

A sharp knock at the door of Tygra's laboratory snapped him out of his intense concentration and back to reality for a moment."Come in," he answered.

It was WilyKat."Do you need any help in here, Tygra?" the youth questioned.

"Thanks, but I don't know what you could do," he replied."Right now I'm just running some assays on blood samples from Lion-O, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary aside from a slightly elevated white blood cell count."

"What does that mean?"

"Generally it would indicate an infection."

"An infection?You mean like if you get a cut and it gets infected?"

Tygra nodded."That's one kind.But they can also be internal, which is what I imagine is the case with Lion-O and Panthro.Has Snarf taken their temperatures recently?"

"About fifteen minutes ago," WilyKat answered."Lion-O was the same and Panthro was half a degree higher."

The tiger sighed."So the anti-fever capsules I had Snarf give them didn't help them at all," he said with a note of dejection in his voice."Did Pumyra get here yet?"

"She's examining them now."

"All right.Could you go and ask her to come down here and talk to me when she's done."

"Sure, Tygra."WilyKat nodded walked toward the exit, but paused in doorway."Tygra… can I ask you something?"Tygra looked up from the tube in his hands and gave WilyKat an affirmative nod.The boy shifted nervously in position and took a deep breath."Are Lion-O and Panthro going to die?"

"I hope not," he answered somberly."And we're all going to do our best to see that they don't."

"But you can't promise it, can you?"

Tygra lowered his head sadly."No WilyKat.I'm afraid I can't."

WilyKat's expression remained unchanged."Thanks for telling me the truth," he said quietly."I'll go get Pumyra."He then headed down the hall and back upstairs.

Tygra sighed and went back to his analysis.He jotted down a few more notes on what he observed, but nothing added up.He read over them again, searching for some tidbit of information that he might have overlooked.He didn't even realize that he'd been in the same position for almost fifteen minutes, poring over his notes, until Pumyra knocked lightly at the lab door and walked in."Hi Tygra," she said in greeting.

"Hi Pumyra.Thanks for coming."

"You know you can always count on me if I'm needed," she assured him."I'm just sorry it's this sort of circumstance."She paused for a second."The kittens told me what happened to Willa.It's such a shock.She was so strong, and she was young… I never would have expected…"

"I know.None of us did," Tygra finished, offering her a small smile of reassurance and shared sadness."How did Panthro and Lion-O look?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Worse than I expected, from what I'd been told.Their temperatures are several degrees above normal and when I so much as touched Panthro's abdomen he roared in pain.Lion-O didn't have quite as violent a reaction, but he seems to be getting delusional in his fever.He was mumbling in his sleep and when he spoke to me, I think he thought I was his mother."

"Delirium of his high fever, no doubt," Tygra mused.

Pumyra nodded."I told Snarf, Cheetara, and the Thunderkittens to give them sponge baths to try and bring down their fevers.Did you give them any medicines?"

"Antibiotics about two hours ago and some anti-fever capsules… they didn't seem to make any difference.If anything, they're even worse off," he sighed."I wonder what could have made them get sick so suddenly.Willa too.We just saw her yesterday, you know."

"Thanks to that Hills of Elfshima disaster and Mumm-Ra having that mask stolen from the warrior maidens' territory by the Lunatacs."She shook her head in disgust."Seems our visits lately are always because of some emergency like that."

"Mumm-Ra lives to cause trouble," Tygra agreed, then was struck with a thought.A very bad thought."That ancient spell book that he used… the Norvog Nage… it was very evil, wasn't it?"

"Evil enough to drive Lynx-O temporarily insane, bring a destructive giant to life, and to turn Lion-O, Panthro, and Willa to stone."As she finished her sentence, her and Tygra's eyes met as the same thought occurred to each.

"All three were stone…"

"All three got sick…"

"Then this is even more serious than I thought," Tygra said worriedly."If this condition isn't merely biological in origin, but some sort of side effect of black magic… or even worse, if it _is black magic… then I don't know how we can combat it." _

Pumyra fingered her belt sling for a moment."There's one thing we can do.We can go and confront Mumm-Ra ourselves.Even though he wouldn't help us, and in fact probably caused this, we may be able to learn something.You know how he can't help but to boast and brag about his evil deeds.He may accidentally give out information we can use."

Tygra set down his notes and thought for a moment."It's a big risk, but it's worth a try.And it will be very dangerous."

"If it saves Lion-O and Panthro's lives, it's worth it," she said determinedly.

"You're right.We're not making any progress here anyway.Let's go."He stood and faced Pumyra, who also got to her feet.

"Right behind you, Tygra," she said, and followed him out.

The two of them headed upstairs, and found Snarf in the kitchen preparing some broth for the two sick Thundercats."Snarf, we need your help," Tygra told him seriously.

"What do you need?" asked the snarf.An alarmed expression crossed his already worry-lined face."Oh no, snaaaarf, are they worse?"

"No, but we have reason to believe that they will continue to do so unless we take drastic action," Tygra explained."That's why Pumyra and I are going to confront Mumm-Ra."

"No!" Snarf protested."You can't leave now!You two are the closest we have to a doctor between Pumyra's basic healing knowledge and your scientific skills.Why would you go to Mumm-Ra now?"

"Because we have reason to believe that their condition was caused by one of his spells.Lion-O, Panthro, and Willa were each turned to stone by an evil spell yesterday, and today Willa is dead and Lion-O and Panthro are both sick from conditions that sound too much alike to be coincidence.Our skills alone haven't done us much good this far, so we're exploring every possibility we can… including trying to get whatever information we can out of Mumm-Ra," Pumyra told him."You're a very good caretaker and I have faith that between you, Cheetara, and the kittens, you can do your best to keep Lion-O and Panthro comfortable until we get back."

"But… but Mumm-Ra won't help you.Snaaaarf, he's evil.He's the one who did this to them," Snarf protested.

"Not voluntarily, but there may be something in his pyramid, or if he confronts us, he may inadvertently say something we can use," Tygra argued."We know it's a long shot but it's our best lead yet. Please try and understand."

Snarf sighed."I understand… rowr… but I still think you're taking a terrible risk."

Pumyra patted him on the head and smiled reassuringly."But that goes with being a Thundercat."

"We know we're leaving them in good hands with you, Snarf.Wish us luck," Tygra called out, as he and Pumyra headed for the hangar.

"Snarf, snarf, good luck," Snarf called back."Jaga knows you'll need it."

***

In the dark and forbidding depths of his pyramid, the soft sound of approaching footsteps awakened the resting Mumm-Ra from his eternal sleep in the crypt."A visitor," he grumbled in annoyance.The sarcophagus slid open and he stepped out into the main chamber to see who it was that saw fit to disturb his rest.The tall, lanky form of Alluro walked through the entrance.

"I did not summon you, Lunatac," Mumm-Ra stated as Alluro approached."Why are you here?"

"I want to know what you did to Chilla and TugMug and I want to know now," Alluro replied, an angry undertone evident in his smooth voice.

"What I did to them?" Mumm-Ra repeated with an aggravated frown, trying to figure out what he was referring to.The events of the previous day had already been dismissed from his mind as unimportant."I don't even know what you're talking about, Alluro.Leave me alone and go elsewhere.You irritate me."

The brush-off nearly set off Alluro's carefully controlled temper.The hypnotist glared at him and took several steps forward. "Not until you answer me," he replied stubbornly."What did you do to them when you turned them to stone?"

"Oh, that," the mummy said ambivalently."It was a test.It was nothing personal, if that's what you've got your undergarments twisted into a knot over.Besides, were they not restored to flesh when Lion-O destroyed the Norvog Nage?"

"They were, but now they're both ill, especially Chilla.She will not last another Third Earth day unless she is cured of whatever it is that your stone spell did to her."

Mumm-Ra cackled with mild amusement."I see.So you've come here hoping to save your icy wench of a girlfriend from death, then.How _very touching," he sneered sarcastically._

Alluro bristled at Mumm-Ra's trivialization of his intentions."Just tell me how to reverse the effects and I'll be on my way," _And stop wasting my time, you worthless bag of bones, he added silently._

The mage's eyes glowed maliciously."Don't get pushy with me, Lunatac," he warned."I have no qualms about striking you dead where you stand, so if I were you I would refrain from using that insolent tone, especially if you want to see your lover recover."

"She isn't my—"

Mumm-Ra snorted derisively."Oh please, if you didn't have feelings for her, you wouldn't be here now.You're easier to read than you think, Alluro.You're far too self-absorbed to simply come here out of the 'goodness of your heart'."To emphasize his point, he replayed the hypnotist's tender treatment of Chilla at her bedside earlier in full color in the bubbling waters of his cauldron.A shocked look crossed Alluro's features for a moment, adding to Mumm-Ra's cruel amusement."If you're still not convinced, I could always replay the last night she spent in your quarters… but I'd really rather not.The mere thought of you Lunatacs rutting about with one another makes me ill."

Alluro clenched his fist in anger, but managed to avoid letting Mumm-Ra provoke him."Will you help her, Mumm-Ra?" he asked neutrally.

"I can… for a price."

"What price?"

Mumm-Ra smiled poisonously."Your servitude would do nicely."

Alluro narrowed his eyes."What?I already work for you, or have you forgotten how you bullied us into following your orders?"

"The allegiance of a treacherous Lunatac such as yourself is worth little to me as such.However, a binding agreement in dark magic, one in which you willingly agree for your soul to be bound in spell as my servant and in which you would follow my orders unquestioningly, would be of worth."

"I would sooner die than become your mind slave, Mumm-Ra," Alluro stated in disgust.

"But it's not _you that would die if you refuse, now is it?That is my offer, Lunatac.Show me just how much you care for poor sick Chilla.If you wish me to end her suffering and restore her health, agree to be my slave for the remainder of your days."_

Even to his own surprise, Alluro found himself considering it for a brief second, but his self-preserving nature quickly overrode that thought.However much he valued Chilla, he valued his own life and freedom more.Besides, he was certain he could find another way."Forget it, Mumm-Ra," he said arrogantly, and turned and started for the door.

"Give her my regards at her funeral, then," Mumm-Ra said in a voice as cold as death."Be sure and add in the sad eulogy you'll undoubtedly give on how much you'll miss her that you had the chance to spare her life and passed it by out of your own selfishness.Perhaps after you die and the two of you meet again in hell, she'll show her appreciation…"

Unable to keep a lid on his temper any longer, Alluro whirled around, his eyes ablaze with rage."You bastard," he hissed, seething in rage.

Angered by the insult, Mumm-Ra lost his tolerance for Alluro, and hurled a blast of painful energy in his direction.It struck him squarely in the side, doubling him over in pain for several moments."I warned you about mouthing off to me, Lunatac.Now I suggest you get out of my sight before I do something to you that will make what Chilla and TugMug are suffering pale in comparison.And don't come back unless you intend to do something about your predicament other than whine to me about it."

Alluro took a few deep breaths to dull the stinging sensation of the evil fire, then managed to stand upright.He gave the mummy one last glare of contempt, then stormed out.Mumm-Ra simply shrugged and returned to his sarcophagus.It was so hard to find worthwhile evil help these days…

***

Tygra and Pumyra parked the Thundertank outside of Mumm-Ra's pyramid and paused as they took in the forbidding sight of the dark monument silhouetted against the desert sky.Even though it was a sunny day, for some reason the sun never shone brightly over the black pyramid, and the sky above it always appeared dark though not a cloud was to be seen.Tygra wondered briefly how it was possible for there to exist an evil so intense that it could permeate the very atmosphere of the region.

"I guess we should just get this over with," Pumyra said nervously as she looked over the pyramid.

Tygra nodded."Yes, there's no point in dragging it out.If we're to confront Mumm-Ra we might as well go on and do it.I just hope this isn't an exercise in futility."

"It's one of our last straws, what else _can we do?"_

"I know," Tygra sighed.He tightened his grip on his bola whip and started walking toward the pyramid.Pumyra followed.They were just about to try and find an entrance when the heavy stone passage covering slid open and Alluro walked out.The three of them faced off in a tense silence for several moments, before Alluro spoke.

"Oh, wonderful," he muttered disgustedly.

"Get out of our way, Lunatac," Tygra warned."We're not here to fight you today, our issue is with Mumm-Ra."

"Popular, isn't he?" Alluro said sarcastically as he made his way back to the Ice Runner, which he'd used to get to the pyramid."Hit him once for me while you're at it.He's got it coming to him."

Pumyra raised an eyebrow."My, he's well-liked even among his own allies, I see."

Alluro paused in his steps."Working for Mumm-Ra was never _my choice, Thundercat.We Lunatacs probably hate him more than you do."He looked toward the Ice Runner again and then looked back."Especially now."_

Tygra started into the pyramid, but stopped."Why is that, Alluro?" he questioned.

"I'm not sure why it would matter to you, but the aftermath of a spell he tested on Chilla and TugMug yesterday has made them sick and will likely kill them.He refuses to cure them unless I sell my soul to him, or some such nonsense." 

Pumyra and Tygra exchanged looks."What kind of spell, if I may ask?" Tygra asked.

"Something from an ancient mask that turned them to stone temporarily."

"The Mask of Gorgon," Pumyra said."He used it on you too?"

"On Chilla and TugMug, yes.They were restored late yesterday afternoon, presumably by magic of yours, or so they hypothesized.You did foil whatever Mumm-Ra's little black magic plan was, didn't you?"

Tygra nodded."Lion-O did, along with Panthro and… Willa."He lapsed into silence for a moment at his now deceased friend's name.

Pumyra took a few steps toward Alluro and addressed him.It was awkward to speak so directly to the enemy, but she had to find out more about what happened to Chilla and TugMug."How are they sick, Alluro?Is it stomach pains?Fever?"

Alluro eyed her guardedly."How did you know that?"

"Lion-O and Panthro have the same condition.Willa had it too."

"'Had it?'You mean she recovered?"

"No, she died," Tygra answered solemnly. 

Alluro climbed into the Ice Runner."She did?Well, my people will not share the same fate.I will see to that."

"You know," Pumyra suggested, "maybe we could work together and—" 

"Not in this lifetime, Thundercat," Alluro cut her off."I've already compromised my standards enough for one day.I'll find a cure on my own.But do give Mumm-Ra my _fondest regards."The engine of the Ice Runner then came to life and Alluro sped off, leaving the two of Thundercats there to digest the latest bit of information they just learned._

"So Chilla and TugMug have taken ill after being turned to stone too."

"Yes.It's a pity that Alluro is too full of himself and his own pride to work with us.Perhaps with our resources pooled we might have come up with something."

"Lunatacs can't even work with one another very well, much less with us."

"Unfortunate, but true," Tygra agreed.He stepped into the still-open entrance of the black pyramid."Let's get this over with, Pumyra."

"Right behind you, Tygra," she replied and followed him in.

As soon as the two of them entered the bleak passage, an icy wind of warning extinguished the supernaturally-lit torches on the passage on the wall, leaving them in an overwhelming darkness.Though he was still in his sarcophagus, Mumm-Ra already knew of their presence and intentions.He was closely attuned to the evil atmosphere of the pyramid and knew when he had visitors, especially unwanted ones.He was not amused.The aggravation of dealing with Alluro had not left the evil mage in the best of spirits to begin with.The unwanted intrusion of Thundercats into his temple served only to sour his mood further.

"I see I won't be getting any sleep today," grumbled the mummy, and he stepped out of his sarcophagus again.This time however he walked to the edge of the cauldron, extended his arms, and spoke the spell that granted him his power."Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!"The eyes of the statues glowed with an eerie malevolent light and shot their power into the undead sorcerer's heart, transforming his withered body into its more powerful alter ego.He crossed his arms on the platform and his eyes burned with malignant fire.Now he was ready for them.

Back in the twisting passages, Pumyra and Tygra continued despite the unfriendly atmosphere. When it became too dark to see, Pumyra exploded a marble on the end of a torch and it caught fire, illuminating the passage well enough for them to find their way to the dark heart of the pyramid where Mumm-Ra resided.Surprisingly there were few traps set to stop them, and the few that were there were easily avoided.Both Thundercats had an uneasy feeling about that, but they hadn't the time to be overly concerned about it.Eventually they found their way to the main chamber and entered.

"Oh goody, Ma-Mutt, we have houseguests," Mumm-Ra sneered in greeting, and then shot a few bolts of red lightning their way."Welcome to my humble abode, Thundercats."

Tygra and Pumyra jumped aside and readied their weapons for a fight, but didn't strike.Instead Tygra spoke to him."We came only for answers, Mumm-Ra," he said evenly."We want to know what you did to Lion-O and Panthro."

A smugly evil grin crossed Mumm-Ra's decaying lips."Oh my… so you've gotten so desperate that you would come to me for answers, eh?And you really think I would tell you what I did to them so you can save them?Me?The ever-living source of evil?The one who more so than any other on this planet, would cheerfully applaud your deaths?"The mage let out a wicked laugh of amusement."You would almost be funny if you weren't so pathetic, Thundercats!"

Steadying herself and collecting the strength to challenge him, Pumyra stepped forward."Pathetic?No.Willing to do whatever it takes to save those we love, no matter how impossible the odds?Yes."

"I'll tell you what is impossible, Thundercat, and that is a sniveling little mortal like you presuming to think that she could ever have the power to take on Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living," he sneered contemptuously.Then, without warning, he thrust his hand forward and a charge of red energy flew from his fingertips.Even the swift Pumyra could not move fast enough to avoid the sudden attack, and the beam seared its way into her leg, making her let out a scream of pain.

Tygra narrowed his eyes and swung his bola whip."We didn't come here to fight you, but since you refuse to do the honorable thing, you've left us no choice."

"Wrong!" Mumm-Ra roared in response.He pointed in a magical summoning to one of the Ancient Spirits of Evil Statues.Its eyes came to life and the stone shook as it prepared to move."It is _you that has no choice, and we both know it.Otherwise you would not be here wasting your time searching for a final and desperate answer to a problem that you know you cannot solve."He looked to the statue, which now raised its foot and took a lumbering step off the pedestal toward Tygra."But as always, I __do have a solution.A very final one that will put all your petty troubles to rest for once and for all."_

Pumyra, still recovering from the blow she took, got back on her feet and watched in horror as the statue's heavy hand came smashing toward the other Thundercat.Just in time Tygra wrapped his whip around his body and vanished from sight as the fist of the evil spirit connected with the stone floor, cracking it with its might.Then to her dismay she heard another similar noise behind her, and saw that a second statue was now animate, and its sinister eyes were focused upon her.

She ran for a more strategic position as best as she could while Mumm-Ra cackled in amusement from his pedestal."It's a shame Lion-O, Panthro, and Willa did not stay as stone after all.As you can see, a statue can be so much more than a work of art," he said, watching delightfully as the other statue thundered toward Pumyra.

"And it's a shame you have to resort to these childish games in your attempts destroy us," Tygra's voice sounded from somewhere across the room.

Mumm-Ra whirled around enraged and faced the direction from which his voice had come."Fool!You think my only goal in raising the Child of Gorgon was to make ugly feline statues out of you?I hate to take away your illusions of importance, but changing their flesh to stone was merely a bonus."

Pumyra rolled out of the way of the crashing foot of one of the animated statues just before it squashed her flat."And a temporary one at that.When we destroyed the Norvog Nage we changed them back and—"

Mumm-Ra laughed at her outburst."Or did you change them back?For all your knowledge, you Thundercats are pitifully ignorant as to the ways of dark magic.In destroying the Norvog Nage you also destroyed your only chance at reversing the damage done by casting the first."

"That's not true!" Pumyra gasped.

"And how certain of that are you?"

Pumyra had no time to answer as the statue caught her off guard and grabbed her by the waist.She let out a cry of alarm and flailed helplessly in its grasp.

"Now there is no need for you to worry about the fate of Lion-O and Panthro any longer," Mumm-Ra told her with mock concern."You will be dead long before they are."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Tygra exclaimed.In a flash he was visible once more and leapt across the chamber to come to Pumyra's aid.He lashed his whip around the wrist of the statue and made it burn a hot fire.The stone went still from the pressure and heat for a moment, giving Pumyra enough time to wriggle her way out.Once free the fingers pressed together in a deadly grip that would surely have crushed her had she not escaped.The stone giant roared and lifted his arm, tearing the whip from Tygra's hands and completely inactivating its power.

The statue that had been chasing Tygra then fired a beam of energy at his back, hitting him squarely and dropping him to his knees.Pumyra quickly ran for him and took his arm."We can't take these things on ourselves, especially now that we're both injured and you're disarmed."

"Yes," Tygra panted, struggling to his feet.Somehow he had enough adrenaline pumping through his veins that he could get up and run with her."We have no choice if we want to survive long enough to save the ones we came here to save in the first place."

Mumm-Ra watched as the two Thundercats ran for the exit.The statues did not give chase since they had no power anywhere but in their own chamber and he did not care enough to put forth the effort to follow them himself.Besides, he knew that they would suffer more through their guilt as they watched their fellow Thundercats die, knowing that they failed them.So he watched them flee, and he chuckled to himself as he heard their rushed footsteps grow faint and distant."And Thundercats, thank you for the visit, and have a _very nice day."_

# Continued in Part Two


	2. Part Two

**_Stone Sickness_**

Part Two

The first thing Alluro did when he returned to Skytomb was to check on Chilla's condition.Though he had not indicated as such to the Thundercats he encountered outside Mumm-Ra's pyramid, the news that the hardy Queen of the Warrior Maidens had succumbed to a sickness like Chilla's and TugMug's was very unsettling to him.Willa was no friend of his and he certainly did not mourn her passing in any way, but he knew that she had been considered a warrior of a strong constitution among her human people.If it was fatal to her, then it stood to reason that it was life threatening to his kind as well.

He was in the main elevator on a direct route to the deck in which their personal quarters were when it stopped on the main floor.Luna and Amok joined him in the lift.In Amok's hand was a large and lumpy plastic pack of some sort.The first few moments of the ride passed in silence until Luna spoke."Chilla is worse," she informed him flatly."If I were to give an opinion, I would say I would be surprised if she survives through the night."

Alluro eyed her coldly."Then don't give an opinion."

They lapsed into another tense silence, and finally the elevator door opened.Alluro stepped out first, and Luna and Amok followed him out."I'm only telling it as I see it, Alluro," Luna said as Amok attempted to keep in step with the other Lunatac."She lost consciousness about two hours ago."

Alluro didn't break his stride."She's probably just sleeping.I'm sure her body is quite overstressed by now."

"No," Luna said."Her fever is up another degree last we checked, and when RedEye tried to rouse her she did not awaken."

This time Alluro paused."How hard did he try?"

Luna met his eyes with a deadly serious gaze."Hard enough."

Alluro mulled that bit of information over for a moment."And what about TugMug?"

"He's still alert, but he says he's in a lot of pain.His body keeps convulsing like it's trying to get something out."

"Dry heaves?" 

Luna nodded."Similar, only much worse.Each time it happens it gets more violent and to hear him, more painful.It looks almost like a seizure of some kind.RedEye went to check on him a few moments ago.I'm tending to Chilla.Since the medicines aren't working to bring down her fever, I thought perhaps ice packs might."

"At this point, anything is worth a try," he agreed.

Luna eyed him carefully."I take it from your tone that you didn't find out anything of use from Mumm-Ra?"

He shook his head and made a noise of disgust."No.Mumm-Ra made it clear that he would rather get his kicks out of insulting me and watching us suffer than actually aid us, his so-called 'allies'.I should have known better than to expect anything else from that worthless bundle of bones.Ironically the only ones who were of any use were the Thundercats."

"The Thundercats?" Luna asked incredulously.

"Tygra and Pumyra were there to confront him for similar reasons.I ran into them on the way out of the pyramid.Apparently some of their own have taken ill with the same affliction that struck Chilla and TugMug, and like them, they were also changed to stone and back yesterday by Mumm-Ra's magic.So did one other, Willa of the Warrior Maiden tribe.She succumbed to it last night, apparently."

"So it killed Queen Willa?"

"Yes," Alluro replied."Not much help in the way of finding a cure, but it does make it clear how serious it is."An agonized groan of pain from the direction of TugMug's room made both Lunatacs look down the hallway in the direction of the sick ones' quarters. Alluro wondered just how much time the two of them had, and felt a certain urgency to do something."Luna, you said you were going to see to Chilla, right?"

Luna nodded a yes.

"Good.Go and apply the ice packs like you planned and alert me to her condition.I'm going to my lab to see what, if anything, showed up in the blood analyses I ran this morning."

Surprisingly Luna did not challenge his somewhat authoritative tone."All right."The tiny Lunatac leader then prodded Amok, and her steed carried her down the hall.

Alluro returned to the elevator and headed for his lab.When he got back he was pleased to see that there was a printout on the analyzer he'd used.He pulled the sheet off and gave it a quick read.The only thing he noticed immediately was that the white blood cell count was high, which didn't tell him much.Frowning, he went over to the computer to check these printouts against the ones on record from their last blood work.Luna had always insisted that they have physicals done every once in a while in case one of them was injured, but it had never really been necessary until now.

First he looked at TugMug's.It was as he suspected, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, except for the elevated white blood cell count_.So it is an infection of some sort, Alluro concluded, __but an infection of what?He remembered the stone RedEye had showed him that he'd supposedly thrown up.__Is it possible to be infected by stone?_

With that strange thought on his mind he then checked Chilla's records.Not surprisingly, her white blood cell counts were also high, even more elevated than TugMug's.That stood to reason as she appeared much sicker than he did.As he compared her records however he also noticed something else—her hormone levels were significantly changed.A few seemed lower than the norm but some were much higher.At first he dismissed that as simply female physiology, but then he remembered something else.Queen Willa was the only other woman afflicted with this ailment, and she was now dead from it. 

"So whatever this is, it affects females more strongly," he mused, speaking his thoughts aloud.He glanced at the paper again, then set it down in disgust."That was a big help," he grumbled, shaking his head."I could have figured that much without wasting all this time running a test."

He sighed, and examined the stone that RedEye had given him earlier.It was smooth, rounded, lightweight, and slightly porous in texture.He eyed it carefully, as if studying it for an answer.He wondered again how it might have gotten inside TugMug.He had some strange tastes in food, but rocks?And if he didn't eat it, how _did it get there?Did Chilla have them inside her too?Was that what was causing the infection?A little stone?It looked so benign, so harmless… _

Alluro curled his fingers around the rock, moved to a different bench, and pulled out a microscope and a saw.There was only one way to find out.

***

It was late afternoon when Tygra and Pumyra returned to Cat's Lair.They were greeted by a worried Snarf, who became even more upset when he saw Tygra's injury."Snaaaarf!What did Mumm-Ra do to you?"

"It's not as bad as it looks, Snarf.I'll be all right," Tygra assured him.

Pumyra nodded."It's just a surface burn, some salve and a bandage will take care of it for now."

Cheetara joined them as they descended the stairway leading to the med room."I thought I heard the Thunderstrike land.What happened?"

"Mumm-Ra wasn't very helpful," Tygra answered, offering a wistful smile that would let her know that he was all right so she wouldn't worry when she saw the injury as Snarf had."He didn't tell us anything other than that our 'ignorance' in destroying the Norvog Nage was responsible for their conditions, and we wound up in battle with him.As you can see, we lost."

Cheetara lowered her head."I'm sorry," she said sadly."We need some lead to a cure very badly.I hate to say it, but Panthro seems worse, and Lion-O isn't doing much better.Panthro keeps having convulsions, like he's trying to throw up, and nothing comes out.And WilyKit said that Lion-O—this is really strange—expelled a stone earlier in a fit of his own."

"Expelled?How?" 

"He threw it up," she answered, a perplexed expression on her face."I don't know how or why he might have swallowed it, though."

Pumyra frowned."That reminds me of something Mumm-Ra said."

"What?" asked Tygra, searching his memory.

"Remember when I said to him that we defeated his evil magic and changed them back?He had a strange answer for that, he said 'or did you change them back?' or something along those lines.Maybe he inadvertently gave us a clue there.What if most of their bodies changed back, but not everything?"

Tygra thought for a moment."You mean that you think some tissue or organ might still be stone?"

Pumyra nodded."He said that when we destroyed the Norvog Nage we destroyed our chance at reversing the damage cast by the first spell, hinting that there might have been a counter-spell in the book that we destroyed.I'll be the first to admit he was probably right in that we _are naïve in the workings of spells, but is it possible that in destroying that book, we interrupted a spell in process and in turn left some kind of lasting side effect?Like leaving stone in their bodies that the Sword of Omens was unable to fully reverse with its own healing powers?"_

"Wait a minute," Cheetara interrupted."I'm not a medical expert, but if some vital organ of theirs was not changed back, wouldn't they have gotten sick or died almost instantly?"

"Not necessarily," Tygra corrected her."If would depend on what it was.If we were talking the brain, the heart, the lungs, yes, they would have of course shown the effects almost instantaneously.But if it were something else like the liver or stomach…" his voice trailed off as he recalled that being the main complaint of pain from those afflicted, "then it might be more delayed."

"Stone in their bodies would also explain their symptoms of infection, including the fever.The body would see it as a foreign tissue, an invader, and attack it," Pumyra continued.

Snarf bounced up on his tail, now even more distressed."So what can we do?If it is an infection of stone, then we have to get rid of it somehow.We know it's deadly, snarf snarf.It killed Willa, and from what I saw the last time I was with Lion-O, he and Panthro aren't far behind!We can't let them die!"

"They won't die, Snarf," Cheetara said determinedly."We won't let that happen."

Tygra's eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope."You just gave me an idea that might be the answer to this, Snarf."

Snarf blinked."I did?"

Tygra nodded."Willa.She succumbed to this terrible illness, but she may have the answers we need.Perhaps if I get in contact with Nayda before her funeral rites, I could ask if she would allow me to do an autopsy to determine what exactly killed her."

Cheetara looked out the window hesitantly."Do you think Nayda would permit that?I'm not sure what the Warrior Maidens' beliefs and rites involving death are."

"I don't like the idea any more than you do, Cheetara.I cared very deeply for Willa and I can barely stand the thought of treating her earthly body like some dissection… but what choice do we have?If it means saving the lives of those who might die if we don't, I'd like to think that Willa would understand."

Cheetara nodded."I'd like to think that too."

"Well there's only one way to find out.We have to go there and ask Nayda," Pumyra said.

Tygra started for the door."I'll go right now.In the meantime, I want you all to treat whatever symptoms you can to keep them comfortable, and examine them for any sign of a blockage or obstruction or anything that might indicate some sort of stone or rock inside them without causing them additional pain.And take care in how you explain the situation to the kittens… I would hate to see them unnecessarily alarmed."

"Snarf snarf, of course we will.Good luck, Tygra."

"Thank you Snarf."The Thundercats then parted company.Cheetara, Pumyra, and Snarf all went upstairs to check on Lion-O and Panthro, while Tygra headed in the opposite direction and returned to the landing bay.He was still weary from his battle with Mumm-Ra and he hoped that his trip to the Tree Top Kingdom would prove more worthwhile than the fiasco at the Black Pyramid.Taking care not to irritate the bandaged wound on his back, he climbed into the Thunderstrike and set course for the Warrior Maidens' home.

Though it was not a long ride, it felt like an eternity had passed by the time he landed in the heart of the Warrior Maidens' territory.He was greeted by two scouts, who had seen his craft land and recognized it as a friendly one, and even though they were friendly he could see that they had an aura of sadness about them that was doubtless due to their beloved queen's passing.

"Welcome, Tygra," one of the scouts, a teenaged warrior named Almika greeted him."What can we do for you?"

"I heard the news of Willa's passing this morning.I'm very sorry for your loss."

The other scout, named Liseti, nodded solemnly."Thank you.Did you come for the ceremony of passing?It takes place in a short while and I'm sure that Queen Willa would have been honored by your presence."

"Thank you for the invitation, but first I must speak with Nayda if at all possible.Two of my people were afflicted with the same ailment that struck Willa, and I need her help to save them."

"Oh no," Almika said."In that case, we'll take you to her right away."

"Follow us," Liseti added.She gestured for him to follow, and the three of them headed to a large tree that had one of the settlement's larger structures built into its lofty branches.Almika pulled on a rope that lowered a lift, and the three of them climbed onto it.Liseti let out a shout that was a signal to those up top, and a maiden standing upon the balcony operated the lift to pull them up quickly.Once they were up, the two scouts hurried to a door and knocked upon it.A voice from inside gave them permission to enter, and they walked in to find Nayda there, accompanied by an older warrior with long locks of graying hair.

"Tygra of the Thundercats wishes to speak with you, Queen Nayda," Almika told her leader.

"Tygra!" Nayda exclaimed, a fleeting smile crossing her face."It's good to see you."She signaled to Almika and Liseti that they were dismissed, and the two of them said a quick good-bye and left them in private."I'm glad you came," she said as she walked over to him, and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I wish I came under better circumstances," Tygra said with a sigh."Snarf told me about Willa.I am very sorry.She was a wonderful woman.I speak for all the Thundercats when I say that we will all miss her very much."

Nayda nodded."So will we."

"And that makes this that much harder," Tygra took a deep breath as he struggled to put his request into kind words."Lion-O and Panthro have fallen very ill, and I have every reason to believe that they have the same illness that killed Willa."

Nayda gasped."Oh no!That's terrible!"

Tygra gave a brief nod and continued, not wanting to drag out the awkwardness of what he had to ask."Nayda, I need to ask a very big favor of you, one that is not easy for me to ask and won't be easy for you to grant."

"What is it?"

"I… I want to examine Willa's body and perform an autopsy."

The older warrior in the room narrowed her eyes."Examine her?How?" she demanded in a suspicious tone.

"On Thundera we called it an autopsy.It's a procedure in which we probe and examine the body with surgical instruments to determine exactly what killed the individual, and we would apply that knowledge in this case to save those who are still living from meeting the same fate."

Nayda paled slightly."You want to cut her open?"

The older maiden stormed toward Tygra angrily."What you ask is unspeakable," she said angrily."She suffered enough in the last hours of her life and I will not stand for you to desecrate her after her death!"

"Calm down, Prieta," Nayda urged her elder."I don't believe Tygra means her any dishonor."

"You know how the gods look upon disturbing the rest of the dead.It is the reason we burn our dead within one sun of their death, so that their bodies are saved from desecration by the scavengers of the forest.I have been the priestess of this kingdom since you were a tiny child, Nayda, and I cannot believe that you would consider allowing this male outsider to defile our Queen in such a way."

"I did not know that it was against your custom," Tygra interrupted, "and for my ignorance I am sorry… but I beg you to reconsider.The lives of two dear friends of mine are at stake.I swear to you on my honor as a Thundercat that I would treat Willa with every respect possible.You know that, don't you Nayda?"

"I know that, Tygra," Nayda said, looking away from the both of them for a moment to keep her composure before she faced him again."But it has long been our belief that tarnishing the bodies of the dead brings evil to our kingdom.Scavengers that thrive on that which nature has left for waste have always been omens of darkness and destruction.Is it coincidence that two of the most vile creatures to ever taint this planet, the ones you call Mutants, are hideous man-breeds of a jackal and vulture, both creatures that feast upon dead flesh?"She looked away again."I realize that is not your intention, but to ensure that our village does not attract the attention of evil spirits, we do not allow the dead to be touched except to be transported and dressed for the ceremonial burning."

"And certainly not touched by _male hands," Prieta added contemptuously._

Tygra sighed.It was clear that they were not going to break their tradition, even for him, and he supposed he shouldn't ask them to and push the issue, lest he wind up costing the Thundercats their friendly alliance with the Warrior Maidens.

Nayda laid a gentle hand on his arm again."Please understand Tygra… we just can't.You know my heart goes out to you and Lion-O and Panthro, but…"Her large brown eyes brimmed with tears.It was clear that she was torn by her decision."I cannot allow you to take Willa, but I can allow you to attend the burial ceremony.If simply looking at her can help, then you may, but you must not touch her."

"A male in our ceremony?" Prieta said, raising an eyebrow."The Thundercats may be our allies, but you know that only males related by blood to the deceased may attend a burial."

"In this case, I think there should be an exception," Nayda replied firmly."Tygra and his friends have saved us from countless attacks by Mutants and Lunatacs.If we cannot grant him the favor he asks the least we can do is allow him at her burial."

Prieta was obviously not pleased, but she did not argue further."As you wish, my Queen."

"The ceremony begins at sundown.Please say you will stay."

Tygra considered whether he should, but it was his only chance to see one who had died from the sickness that struck his fellow Thundercats, and he figured that if an emergency arose in which he was needed back at the Lair immediately he could always return.Besides, if it was as high an honor as Prieta made it seem to allow him to be present, he felt he owed it to his departed friend to be there on behalf of all of the Thundercats.He just hoped that Lion-O and Panthro's conditions would not worsen in the time he was out. He smiled weakly and gave Nayda an affirmative nod."Thank you for the invitation.I would be honored to stay."

Nayda smiled back."Wonderful.You may wait here until the ceremony begins.I will send for Almika to tend to anything you might need and to keep you company until then.In the meantime Prieta and I must prepare for the ceremony.I look forward to seeing you there."

She and Prieta then left the hut, leaving Tygra there by himself.He pulled out his hand communicator and contacted Cat's Lair to let them know what was going on. 

Cheetara answered the call, and she told him to do exactly as he was doing—to stay and say goodbye to Willa for all of them.She also updated him on Lion-O and Panthro's conditions.Lion-O was about the same, and had not thrown up any more rocks, though he was still having the convulsive fits. Panthro on the other hand had taken a turn for the worse.His fever had risen another degree and he was losing his ability to maintain coherent speech.She also said that WilyKat noticed what appeared to be flakes of rock in his vomit shortly after he had left.Still, Cheetara urged him to stay, saying that there was not much he could do there that could not wait an hour or two, and that Pumyra could handle things until he returned.He told Cheetara that he hoped she was right, then closed the connection and waited.

Not long thereafter Almika joined him and brought some food and drink.He didn't feel terribly hungry, but he had some anyway, since he'd neglected to eat throughout most of this ordeal and he knew he needed to keep his strength up.He talked with her for a short while, until another woman whom he did not recognize came to the hut and informed them both that it was time for the ceremony.

Tygra followed the two of them out of the hut and down the tree, and then up a path leading into the forest toward the northeast.The walk lasted approximately ten minutes, and ended when they reached a clearing in which what appeared to be the entire population of the Tree Top Kingdom was gathered.They made their way toward the front of the crowd, and Tygra was not surprised to hear whispers and murmurs of surprise and shock at his presence at the ceremony.

Almika and the other scout soon took their place on the inner edge of the crowd and gestured for Tygra to step between them.When he did he saw a large dirt-lined pit, at least ten feet in diameter and by his guess four or five feet deep, hollowed in the center of the circle that the warrior maidens had made around those guiding the ceremony.Inside the pit burned a low fire of orange-yellow flames that were no doubt soon to consume Willa's remains.On the left side of the flaming pit Tygra could see Nayda standing, wearing an animal skin shawl and holding a large bowl in her hands.He saw the woman he recognized as the priestess Prieta standing behind Willa.She too was dressed in an animal skin painted with what he guessed were ceremonial symbols.

About five minutes later, Prieta called out a word he didn't understand—something from another dialect or language of the planet that he was not familiar with, he guessed—and the crowd fell silent.She paced around the circle, making eye contact with those gathered there, speaking faster and with more emotion in the foreign tongue.When she passed by him, he could have sworn that she glared at him with the same contempt she displayed for him earlier, but he did not react.He felt he owed it out of respect to Willa to not disrupt the ceremony.

When Prieta returned to her original spot, the crowd parted and two warrior maidens carried in Willa on a makeshift bed made of cloth and bamboo handles.They stopped in front of Nayda.The new queen of the tribe bent over her lost sister's body and touched her face lightly, but with clear love and sadness that gleamed in her tears.She murmured something that only one as close as Willa might have heard, then stood back up and lifted the bowl she held.She carefully dipped her hands in it, and when she brought them out they were cupped and coated in a dark-colored liquid that she carefully dispensed over Willa's chest by slowly flattening and spreading apart her fingers.After she finished, Prieta walked to the other side of the cot and dipped her hand in as well.She said a few more words, a last rite by Tygra's best guess, and when she finished she turned to the crowd, gave a silent nod, then stepped aside.

All at once the gathering of mourning warrior maidens formed into a procession and lined up to do as Nayda and Prieta had done.When Almika joined in the line, Tygra stepped in behind her.No one got angry or pushed him out of the way, so he assumed that what he was doing was all right by them.Tygra waited patiently as one by one the mourners carried out the rite until it was his turn.As he approached Willa's body he realized that this was his likely his last and only chance to see her remains up close before cremation.

Somewhat to his surprise her body was stripped of all clothing, with nothing but fresh leaves and flowers laid carefully around her form as decoration.The liquid in the bowl Nayda held, a fluid that was dark maroon in color and smelled strongly like wines he'd tasted before, now covered stained the skin and hair over nearly all of her body.As he dipped his hand into the bowl, he studied her still form.To his dismay he was not able to see anything that might explain what had caused her untimely death.

When it was clear he could stall no longer, he brought his large hand, cupped and filled with the wine, and sprinkled it carefully over the length of her body, starting at her forehead and down to her toes."I speak for all of the Thundercats when I say that we were lucky to have known you and that you will be deeply missed," he said softly.Nayda smiled at him silently from the other side, and when his handful was dispensed, he moved aside to allow the woman behind him to have her turn, then followed Almika to where they were to wait until everyone present had gone.

Finally the last young woman stepped up to Willa's side, performed her rite, and rejoined the crowd, which had once again formed the circle it held before it had started.Prieta walked up to the very edge of the flames.She raised her hands wide, let out a shout that was echoed by many of those gathered, and then stepped aside as the two carrying Willa's body strode up to the side of the pit.They nodded in unison, and then hurled the wine-soaked bedcloth that held their departed queen into the center of the flames.The fire blazed and crackled as it landed, sparking and roaring brilliantly as it burned the alcohol coating her body, and quickly consumed Willa's remains until it was all but ashes.Prieta led the crowd in solemn singing and humming as the cremation took place.

Tygra was numb as he watched it all happen.He was still in shock over the fact that Willa was really gone, and he was fighting off a nagging sensation of guilt for taking the time to be there when his own people, still living but not necessarily for much longer unless he found a cure, were at home suffering and fighting for their own lives.He now felt deep regret for not insisting harder that Nayda allow him to examine Willa, but at the time it had not seemed right.Now it was too late, and what might have been their last chance was now up in smoke.

He was so caught up in his distressing thoughts that he barely noticed that he was among the last to leave, and might have stood there longer, staring at the now dying flames, until Nayda tapped him on the shoulder."Tygra?" 

The tiger blinked and looked up."Oh, Nayda…" his voice trailed off as he didn't really know what to say.

"The ceremony is over now.I didn't want to bother you, but I wasn't sure you realized… well most of the women have gone back to their trees now."

Tygra glanced at the darkening horizon that indicated to him that he had been here for several hours now.That alarmed him, as he knew all too well that Panthro or Lion-O might have taken a turn for the worse in that time, but then he realized had that been the case that one of the others would have contacted him."Yes," he replied, "I was just trying to take it all in, I guess, and I lost track of things for a bit.But you're right, I should go back.Thank you for letting me stay, Nayda."

Nayda nodded sympathetically."Of course, you and your friends are always welcome here."She glanced at the pit."I'd offer to walk with you back to your ship, but it's now my duty as Willa's closest relation by blood and age to gather and spread her ashes."

"It's all right," he said with a sad smile."Take care, Nayda."

"You too, Tygra."

Tygra then turned and headed back down the path toward the main village, when he heard a horrified gasp from Nayda's direction.Immediately he spun around to see what had alarmed her so.He saw her standing from halfway down into the pit, frozen in place.He was back at her side in a flash."Are you all right?"

"Look," she said, pointing at the area where the fire had been.Tygra shifted his gaze toward the center of the pit and felt a sickening tightness in his stomach.

In the blackened dirt and ash lay a pile of several large and irregularly shaped rocks.

"I watched them dig up this ground this morning," Nayda explained in a shaky voice."And I saw the fire lit myself.There were no stones that size in there when it started.All the rocks were cleared."She looked up at him."How did they get there?What kind of omen or magic is this?"

Tygra felt his own heart skip a beat when she asked that question."The evil magic of the Norvog Nage," he whispered with a rising feeling of dread.

"If they weren't there when it started, and no one put them there, how did they get there?I thought the Norvog Nage was destroyed!" she said, her own panic escalating.Her people had guarded the tome for ages, and she knew how truly evil its power was.

"It was," Tygra told her, "but the effects of the final spell used from it lingered on.Pumyra and I confronted Mumm-Ra earlier today.He gloated to us that we destroyed the only true counter-spell to the damage it had done and that the Sword of Omens was not enough to cure those who had been changed to stone and back.After Lion-O expelled a stone from inside his body, it led us to believe that somehow an infection of stone still lingered in those who were affected, your sister included.That was why I wanted to do the autopsy, to find out what exactly _was stone inside her, so that I could remove or cure it from Lion-O and Panthro in time."He closed his eyes sadly for a moment."I guess I now have my answer."_

Nayda looked at the pile for a moment, then laid a hand on Tygra's forearm."Do you want to take those stones and study them, Tygra?"

He blinked and looked at her in surprise."You would be willing to let me do that?"

Nayda nodded."The stones are not my sister's remains any longer.She has been burned and set free, and the danger of inviting scavengers and their evil has passed."She shivered a bit and looked at the stones again."And to be honest, I'd rather not handle anything that might be tainted by the magic of the Norvog Nage."

"I can't blame you on that count," Tygra said with a slight shake of his head.He took a deep breath and walked to the center of the blackened pit.He picked up one of the rocks and studied it in what little daylight was remaining.It had a curious texture, roughly shaped, lightweight, and with a porous surface.There were strange patterns on the rock and irregular protrusions all over it.One section looked almost like the exact texture of the skin of a candy fruit.Then it struck him.In an odd way the rock reminded him of fossilized puke.

Her curiosity overriding her fear for the moment, Nayda joined his side and eyed the rock in his hands.She had a similar observation to his own."That's strange," she remarked, "it looks like almost like a rock version of the stuffed candy fruits we were eating yesterday morning."

"Food," Tygra murmured thoughtfully as a theory formed in his head."That would explain a lot—the stomach pains, the heaving, the expelled stone, even the delayed onset.It wasn't an organ turned to stone, but the food they ate."

"How could that be?" Nayda asked, puzzled.

Tygra began to pace as he worked out the details of his theory aloud to Nayda."When they were changed to stone, their entire bodies were transformed from flesh to stone, with only their clothes and possessions remaining unaltered.Now the direct counter-spell to that would have been to use the passage in the Norvog Nage that changed stone to flesh, right?"

"Yes," she said, carefully listening.

"But as Mumm-Ra said, we didn't use the Norvog Nage, and therefore we didn't use the direct counter-spell.It was only the restoring magic of the Sword of Omens.What if in its restoration, it only restored their bodies, that which was comprised only of their own cells, and did nothing to reverse the condition on something non-living—like the food in their digestive systems, for instance?"Tygra then somehow just knew that he'd hit the answer and continued, a smile of relief breaking across his face."If the food in their now restored systems remained these large chunks of completely indigestible stone, their bodies would try their hardest to rid themselves of the unwanted matter, hence the cramping and stomach pains.If it irritated the wall of the gut and created lesions, infection could set in and that would explain the fevers and pains and wild immune response.And of course the more stone that would be present in the system, the more serious the results and dire the consequences would be for the afflicted individual."

"Then it was this stone that killed Willa.She'd had a very large meal that morning.We had a lot of ripe candy fruit available so we made a large batch of stuffed candy fruit for ourselves. I even remember now Willa saying that she was stuffed and wouldn't be able to eat another bite for hours," she said, fighting back a sob of grief.

Tygra squeezed Nayda's hand sympathetically."It would explain why she was affected so badly, yes.I'm sorry.I wish that we could have found this out in time to have saved her."

"Me too," Nayda sniffled."But at least now maybe everyone won't die from it."

"Not if I can help it," Tygra assured her.He glanced at the path that led back toward the Thunderstrike with a renewed sense of urgency."I hate to have to leave you now Nayda, but I have to analyze these and make sure—"

"I understand," she finished."Go on home, and good luck.I'll be fine, once I take care of my final duty to my sister."She watched him gather up the stones, and then pulled out the pouch in which she was going to collect Willa's ashes."And Tygra, please, let me know how things turn out."

"I will.I promise," he said earnestly, and then headed back for the Thunderstrike.

* * * 

  
Luna tapped the edge of Chilla's bedroom door with the tip of her riding crop impatiently as Amok pushed it open.Her quarters, cluttered and in a state of wild disorder from the combination of her earlier thrashing and the amount of times Luna, RedEye, and Alluro had been in and out to check in on her, seemed eerily calm and quiet as they entered.Chilla lay deathly still on her side, her legs bent and drawn up toward her stomach in a fetal position.Luna was almost ready to have Amok take her over to her side and check her pulse, but the shallow and rhythmic rise of her chest told her that at least the ice Lunatac was still breathing.

"She's no better," Luna murmured quietly, then tapped Amok on the shoulder with her crop."Go to her bed, Amok.Let's try to bring down her fever with the ice packs now."Amok grunted and obligingly went over."Now, turn her over so she's on her back, we can reach her pulse points more easily that way," she instructed her steed.He raised his free hand and pushed the unconscious Lunatac gently at the shoulder.Chilla's unclothed and limp form rolled over onto the sheets without her so much as fluttering an eyelid at the movement.

If Amok had a reaction to her nakedness he didn't show it.Of all the males in the place, Luna figured, and correctly so, that Amok would be least likely to display awkwardness of any kind about it.He was so loyal to Luna, and so accustomed to his current lifestyle of serving her, that thinking of Chilla in such a way would simply never occur to him."Place some of the ice against her neck on either side, Amok.And on her wrists," Luna said, as she re-bagged the ice into smaller packs so that there would be more of her.He did as she asked, and placed the ice carefully in each place she told him too.Chilla did not move or react, but Luna hadn't really expected her to.RedEye had shaken her by the shoulders about an hour ago and it hadn't roused her.

Luna passed Amok two more packs."Now move her legs and place these behind the kn—" she cut herself off with a loud gasp, while Amok's hand, already lifting Chilla's right leg, froze in place.

The sheet and insides of her legs, previously concealed by the position in which she'd been laying, were smeared and coated with blood.

"Oh, gods," Luna said, her large eyes widened further with shock.The blood was not coming from a cut, but from inside of her.It was not a sight that she was prepared for.Unlike females of other species, Lunatac females did not bleed as a part of their own fertility cycle.Therefore the presence of any blood, especially that much, was an indication of something terribly wrong.

Immediately she had Amok bring her over to the intercom, and she paged the laboratory."Alluro!" she nearly shrieked into it."Alluro, answer me, this is important!"

A few seconds later Alluro's voice sounded over the speaker."What is it, Luna?Is it Chilla?"Elements of both alarm and irritation could be heard in his tone.

"She's bleeding."

"Is she cut?"

"No," Luna replied."It's internal.You need to come up here and look at her _now."_

There was a momentary lapse, and then Alluro spoke again, the irritation in his voice now replaced with genuine worry."Internal?I'll be right there."

Downstairs Alluro closed the intercom connection and immediately started for the door.As he passed by the bench he'd been working at he glanced again at the stone he'd been analyzing, now cut and sliced into fragments for analysis.He hadn't been able to determine much from the small sample.All he did learn was that the chemical structure of parts of it appeared to have been organic in nature at one point, but that they'd been fossilized—presumably by Mumm-Ra's spell.What exactly they might have been, or why they might have been in TugMug's stomach was still a mystery.

The only even somewhat plausible theory he'd come up with, other than the possibility that TugMug might have ingested the stone himself, was that perhaps something went awry in Mumm-Ra's spell that might have resulted in fossilization of some of the body tissues.It seemed impossible and it was a long shot at best, but it was the best he had come up with, and when he thought about it, it would explain the symptoms the afflicted Lunatacs were suffering.

He'd been in the process of setting up the scanning machine—a piece of equipment he made from the design of Skytomb's landscape scanners a few months back for the purposes of examining for internal injuries and tissues—to find out if his theory was correct when Luna's call had come.Grateful for the cue to his memory, Alluro paused by the bench long enough to collect the scanner and its power source in his arms before he headed upstairs.Hopefully it would be able to tell him what he needed to know to help Chilla, and afterward, TugMug.

Alluro reached Chilla's door only to find it sealed.He tried to open it, a somewhat difficult task with the cumbersome machine in his arms, until Luna must have heard him and had Amok open it for him.Alluro hurried in and set the machine down on the foot of her bed.It was only then that he glanced in the unconscious Chilla's direction and saw the blood.Immediately he felt a sickened sensation in the pit of his stomach and turned away.When Luna had said she was bleeding, she hadn't said _where, and it wasn't what he'd anticipated… though now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what he __had expected to see really.Once he got his bearings, he switched on the scanner and handed Luna a damp cloth from the nearby nightstand."Clean as much of the blood off her skin as you can.I'm going to try and use this on her and I can't have the sensors getting dirty," he said abruptly._

Luna took the cloth and handed it to Amok, who obediently set about the task."What is it?" she inquired, looking at the machine.

"Remember when you fell off of Amok's back and landed on your wrist a couple months ago, and you thought it was broken?" he replied, referring to an incident that had happened not long after Skytomb was first constructed.

Luna nodded.

"This is the machine I used to find out if your bone had been fractured or not.It's not exactly medical equipment, but being that I'm not a qualified physician, it's about as close as I could build with my own biology and engineering knowledge," he explained."My analysis of the rock TugMug threw up led me to believe that there might be some tissue within their bodies that's either producing stone or being turned into it as a side effect of Mumm-Ra's spell, so I brought this out to find out if indeed there is residual stone in their bodies.And given this," he alluded to Chilla's bleeding, "I think we've got no time to lose.If there is stone inside her that's big enough to cause internal bleeding, it's imperative that we locate and get rid of it immediately."

He flipped a few switches, connected the probes, and gestured for Luna and Amok to move back.Amok gave Chilla's leg one final pat with the cloth and stepped back so Alluro could slide in next to her.He placed one probe on each side of her belly, the area from which she had complained of the most pain.

Slowly an image took form on the monitor.Alluro could make out the shape of her intestines, and throughout them were several pockets of solid material that did not look like food.He switched the setting for a color, weight, density, and projected analysis on the substance."Tissue detected in sample area: Inert material," the screen read.The density, weight, and color properties were nearly identical to those of the stone sample he'd analyzed earlier."It's stone," Alluro said with shocked disbelief."Her intestines are filled with stone."

"What?" echoed an equally shocked Luna.

"Just what I said.There's rock deposits all throughout her GI tract," Alluro said, becoming panicked as he slid the probe upwards.Her gut was riddled with the fragments of stone, most very small and smooth, rounded and oblong in shape."It's everywhere."He looked for her stomach.When he found it, he saw a few smaller chunks of rock sitting against the stomach wall. 

Luna shook her head in disbelief."But where did it come from?" she asked, perplexed."She doesn't eat rocks.TugMug doesn't eat rocks either!It couldn't have just spontaneously formed there!"

A strange thought, startlingly similar to the one that had struck Tygra miles away not long before, now occurred to him."Oh no," Alluro said aloud, comprehending the complexity of the problem if what he was thinking was true.

"What?" an impatient Luna pressed.

"It's what she ate," he explained."Everything she ate, everything in her entire GI tract, it's stone.It must have been changed along with her when she was turned into a statue by that damned Mumm-Ra, but when the spell was broken for some reason it didn't change what she ate back.That has to be it.I'll bet that when we check TugMug we find the exact same thing."

"But… but why wouldn't the food change back if the rest of her did?"

Alluro clenched the probe in frustration."Don't ask_ me__ what the hell Mumm-Ra's magic does or why it does it!It's probably because he's an incompetent fuck-up at his own spells, and this is a result of it," he snapped angrily, then took a deep breath and regained his composure before continuing."The only guess I can make is that it was only what was actually __her that got changed back when they restored, leaving what wasn't her—in this case what she had eaten—as the stone Mumm-Ra changed it to."_

Luna let the explanation sink in."All right, that would explain the heaving and the stomach pains… but what about the fever?And all that blood?" 

"Fever could be caused by a number of things.Commonly it's a side effect of infection.With all this foreign matter littering up her system, it's little wonder her body is reacting as though it's in the throes of a terrible infection, because it is.It's an infection of stone.As for the blood, I'm guessing that one of these larger fragments here—" he repositioned the probe over an area that showed a large and irregularly shaped rock in her large intestine "—likely cut the tissue it's been abrading against, and sliced through a blood vessel, hence the blood from her colon."

"But Alluro," Luna said quietly, "that's not where the blood is coming from," she pointed out as delicately as she could without spelling it out.Alluro raised an eyebrow and met her expression with a surprised, if not uncomfortable, look of his own, and Luna confirmed his silent inquiry with a nod.

"But… why?" Alluro wondered aloud.He forced himself to think of the matter in plainly medical terms, and no others."If it's only what she ate that was fossilized, then what could cause this?"He drew the scanner probe over her abdomen slowly, watching the screen carefully for anything out of the ordinary.He found several more stone deposits, but like the others they were all contained within intestinal tissue.There was no indication for her bleeding—until he came across what appeared to be a very small stone embedded more deeply inside her.

Frowning in puzzlement, he adjusted the settings for a better focus on the rock fragment, only this time he set it on a slightly wider range, including a good inch of the area around it, and set the machine to analyze as he had earlier.When the analysis flashed on the monitor, he froze in cold shock.

The screen read, "Tissues detected in sample area: Uterus, Inert Material."

"Gods," Alluro breathed, his own mind reeling at the implications.

Luna also read what had appeared on the screen.Her eyes drifted from the readout to Alluro's face."Does… does that mean she's pregnant?" an equally stunned Luna questioned.

Alluro blinked, and met Luna's eyes."No, Luna," he said softly, an unreadable expression on his face."It means she _was… until that spell turned the child within her to stone."_

* * *

The ride back to Cat's Lair, which had felt too long to Tygra on his first trip, felt even longer on the second.He prayed that he would make it back in time before either Panthro or Lion-O got worse.He had not heard news otherwise, and that was a small comfort, but his worry would not ease until he was actually there to see for himself.

When he did finally arrive a very worn-looking Snarf greeted him."Oh, snaaarf, I'm glad you're back Tygra.Lion-O and Panthro haven't gotten any worse, but I sure don't think they're getting any better either.We need to do something for them and soon.What did you find out at the funeral ceremony?"

Having also heard the Thunderstrike land, Cheetara, Pumyra, and the kittens hurried out to greet Tygra as well."Tygra!" Cheetara exclaimed."Were you able to learn anything at the funeral?"

"I think so."

"You can cure them then?" WilyKit asked hopefully.

"Tell us," Snarf insisted."I promised Bengali, Lynx-O, and Snarfer that I would let them know the second there was any news.They've been just as worried as we are."

"All right," Tygra said."I went to the Tree Top Kingdom, but as I told you earlier Nayda would not allow me to do an autopsy on Willa, as it's against their beliefs.She did invite me to the funeral, so I stayed.As it turned out, it was a cremation ceremony.After they…" his voice trailed off slightly "…carried it out, large stones were found among her ashes.Stones that were inside her body."

"Stones!" gasped Snarf."Brrrr… and Lion-O and Panthro have both been sick with stones or traces of it."

Cheetara's eyes widened in surprise."Those came from inside her?"

Tygra nodded."There was no other place from which they _could have come.Nayda told me that the pit was bare dirt and wood without a rock in sight when the fire was lit."_

"But how?" WilyKit inquired."Those are big rocks.Do humans have rocks inside them?"

"Yeah," WilyKat added."Like those gizzard things I've read about in some biology books?"

"No," Tygra corrected him, "Humans don't have those.There is no biological reason for a rock to be inside the body unless it was eaten or—"

"Eaten?!" Snarf exclaimed."Snaaaarf!Are you saying that Willa ate rocks that big?" he asked incredulously.

Tygra shook his head."No, that would be nearly impossible physiologically."He held up the largest stone."But look at it… see how if you look at the unusual texture and shape, pieces of it look like candyfruit skin?"The others around him nodded."It got me to thinking… and then when Nayda made a comment that Willa had a feast of candyfruit that morning, it occurred to me—what if what was wrong with her, and what is wrong with Lion-O and Panthro, is that when they were turned to stone and back, that the food in their systems, that which was not part of their own cellular structure as it were, remained fossilized?"

Cheetara frowned in puzzlement."You think that's why they're so sick, that the food that was in their systems turned to stone and is poisoning them somehow?"

"That's exactly it," Tygra confirmed.

"Wow… how do we get it out?Surgery?" asked WilyKat.

Tygra closed his eyes and sighed."I hope not.Neither Pumyra nor I are really qualified to do that.She's the one with medical training, but I don't think it goes that far.Anything we did would be highly experimental for us, and because of the risk involved, I'd say a very last resort."

WilyKit gulped."Risk?But…" her voice trailed off as she struggled to understand.

Pumyra put a hand on the kitten's shoulder."I'm going to be honest with you here, WilyKit.If Tygra and I operate, our lack of experience could very well result in serious complications… serious enough that they could even die if we tried."

"Then what _can you do?" WilyKat asked._

"That's what I need your help for," Tygra said, straightening a bit as he addressed the group of them once more."I'll need to run X-rays on both of them as soon as possible so I can find out where these stone deposits are.Cheetara, I can use your help in getting the machine operational.In the meanwhile, I'm going to need a lot of oil.Snarf, do you have a jug or two of cooking oil you might be able to spare?"

Snarf stood up on his tail."Well sure, snarf snarf, I have a whole lot of it."

"Good.I'll also need some tubing and anything labeled as a solvent.Anything you can find might be helpful.Kittens, do you think you could go through Panthro's workshop and find that for me?Also I'd prefer the tubing be clean as possible.In the meanwhile Snarf I want you to find the oil and also boil a few pots of water.I'll need to sterilize some equipment.Lastly Pumyra, if you could go up and check on Panthro and Lion-O while we do all this, that would be a big help."

"No problem Tygra," Pumyra agreed, and headed upstairs.WilyKit and WilyKat also both nodded in agreement to Tygra and dashed off to Panthro's workshop.Snarf hurried for the kitchen to fill the pots and get the oil, while Cheetara followed Tygra to the lab.

Once there, Tygra found his x-raying device and set about modifying it for the purposes they would need it for upstairs.Unfortunately the machine wasn't as portable as he would have liked, and he definitely didn't want Panthro or Lion-O being moved too much, lest a stone rupture some internal organ and do damage that he and Pumyra would have no chance of healing.He took out his tools immediately and set to work on it, and with some help from Cheetara it wasn't too long before finished the necessary modifications.He then gave the machine to Cheetara with instructions to have her and Pumyra set it up on Panthro.

Right after Cheetara left Tygra then set about studying a fragment of the rock to ascertain its chemical structure.Since he had no way of easily breaking it apart, he decided that dissolving the rock and allowing it to pass through or otherwise come out naturally would be the best strategy.It wasn't long before the Thunderkittens came in and showed him what they had found in the lab—about twelve feet of unused hosing for repairing the Thundertank, and about fifteen bottles of chemicals.He told them to cut the hosing into four foot sections and have Snarf boil them.The kittens did as he asked and left the room as quickly as they came.

Meanwhile Tygra formulated a solution from the materials he had available that would ideally dissolve the stone but not do further internal damage.It took some ingenuity and plenty of help from his computer to run the analyses, but eventually he was able to come up with a formulation that disintegrated samples of the stone with minimal production of toxic by-products.He figured that with the aid enough oil to lubricate the gastrointestinal tract and an accurate dose of the formula, calculated by the estimated size of the stones which he would determine by the results of the X-rays, that it would do the trick.At least he hoped in the name of all the gods of Thundera that it would.

About an hour and a half altogether had passed when the group of them assembled in Panthro's room to try what they hoped would be the cure.The decision to cure Panthro before Lion-O was made out of necessity, while both were sick, Panthro was in worse condition, with a higher fever and spasms more violent and frequent than Lion-O's.At Tygra's instruction Cheetara and WilyKat set the X-ray machine over Panthro's midsection and initiated the scan.Tygra and WilyKit watched the screen, and were horrified to see large unidentifiable solid masses in his stomach, and a few smaller ones in his intestines.

"Oh my gods!" exclaimed the female kitten."That's all stone isn't it?"

"I'm afraid it probably is," Tygra said."But the good news is the worst of it's in his stomach.If this solution works, then we'll know very soon.Cheetara, can the machine be rested there?" he asked.Cheetara nodded back an affirmative."Good.Pumyra, can you use the sterilized hose to set up a stomach tube?I'm going to try and calculate about how much of this he'll need."

"I'll do my best," Pumyra replied, and with a gloved hand pulled the stomach tube from the once boiled, now cooled, water.She had WilyKat and Snarf each hold down one of Panthro's arms to keep him from moving while she carefully opened the mouth and slid the tube gently into the unconscious panther's throat.Once the tube was in place and Tygra measured a certain amount of his treatment and poured it into the tube.Pumyra then followed it with a liberal amount of the oil, until she was certain it had been washed down."All right now, sit him up," Pumyra told WilyKat and Cheetara."If this makes him throw up, we don't want him choking on it," she explained as she pulled out the tube.

Cheetara and WilyKat eased Panthro upright, and the motion was enough to jostle the groggy panther back into consciousness."Try not to let him throw up too soon," Tygra said, repositioning the X-ray machine so he could see the mass in his stomach as the solution interacted with it.He hoped it would dissolve it fairly fast.He predicted that the chemicals and oil would make Panthro's already upset stomach react badly and that he'd be throwing it back up in no time.He really didn't want to have to stomach tube Panthro and feed him the treatment more than once—he had been through enough as it was.

Panthro was still for a few moments, his breathing slightly labored while Cheetara and WilyKat continued to hold him in place.Tygra was pleased to see the chemical already interacting with the stone, and although it was very hard to see on the X-ray it looked as though it were spreading out on the screen, which probably meant that it was breaking apart.Then suddenly what Tygra expected happened and Panthro lurched forward, clutching his stomach and groaning.

"No, not yet!" Tygra said, almost shouting, before he caught himself and lowered his voice."Panthro, try and keep it down… just a minute or two more.Please.It's very important."

"I… I don't…" Panthro swallowed and tightened his muscles, trying to resist the contractions.It only seemed to intensify the pain.

Cheetara slipped her arm around Panthro's shoulders and hugged him."It's okay," she said softly."This will be all over soon.Just hang in there."

"Auuugh… hurts…." Panthro groaned in agony, using every reserve of strength he could still call on in his weakened state to do as Tygra asked.The pain seemed to increase exponentially with every passing second, and the panther almost stopped breathing, knowing that the very act of releasing his diaphragm muscles would cause the inevitable.

Tygra looked at the screen.With all of Panthro's erratic movements it was impossible to tell what, if anything, had broken up."Just try a little bit longer if you can," he urged.

Panthro winced and grunted, grinding his jaw with the painful effort of stopping his body's natural reaction.His stomach was twisting in pain, and the strain of past spasms and the general aches now all throughout his body only made it all the more brutal.Even he, the strongest of the Thundercats, couldn't hold out any longer."Tygra… can't…"And with that he violently lurched forward and heaved.On the ball as always, Snarf managed to stick a bedpan under Panthro's mouth before he could coat the X-ray machine in a spew of oily, gravelly emesis.

Once he started, the sick panther heaved several more times, each time bringing a thick mouthful of foul-colored vomit.It was fortunate in a way that he was already in great pain, for he didn't really feel the added discomfort of the rocks scraping their way back up his esophagus.He bent over the pan, heaving for what felt to him like an endless eternity but was in reality only about two or three minutes, until nothing further came out with the spasms.When the contractions lessened enough for him to take a few gulps of air, Cheetara eased him back against the pillow.

WilyKat peered into the quite full bedpan and immediately winced.It was a thick sludge of oil, chemicals, and bile, with pebbles and stone all throughout it."Yuck," was all he said, but it was quite an understatement.

Pumyra took a washcloth and wiped Panthro's sweat-covered brow."Do you feel any better?" she asked.

"I feel like I got run over by the Thundertank," Panthro replied weakly."But my stomach doesn't hurt so much right now."

Tygra reset the X-ray machine carefully over Panthro's stomach."Lie still if you can… I want to see if it made a difference."He ran the scan one more time.To his delighted surprise, the stomach was of all but a few tiny fragments of stone."It worked," he told the others with a wide smile."That boulder that was in his stomach is gone!"

"What about what was in his intestines?" Pumyra asked.

"That's going to go next.Those pieces are a lot smaller."He glanced at the X-ray machine one more time, then at the bottle of his treatment formula."Pumyra, you can set up an IV or something on Panthro so he regains the fluids he lost, right?"The puma nodded a yes, and Tygra poured some of the medicine into an empty glass on the nightstand."All right then, do that, and in fifteen minutes add a liberal dose of oil to this and give it to him to drink.Maybe some bread too to settle his stomach.If he can keep that down so that he digests it enough to get it into his intestines it should take care of those remaining stones… and with any luck, he'll be on the road to recovery.In the meantime, we'd better see to Lion-O.Hopefully we'll have as much luck with him as we did with Panthro.Kittens, Cheetara, can you come with me?"

"Sure Tygra."

"No problem."

"Right behind you."

The four of them left the room while Pumyra set up an IV on him.She gently slid the needle into his arm, feeling guilty for causing him even that slight bit of pain after all that had just happened, and taped it on."There you go," she said with a smile."How're you feeling now?"

Panthro smiled faintly."Better."He shifted his head on the pillow and followed her with his eyes as she strode across the room to put a few things in order."Pumyra," he said suddenly, "do you think this really will cure me and Lion-O?"

She turned and faced him."I hope so, Panthro.I hope so."

* * *

After giving TugMug a similar examination with the scanner as he had Chilla, and finding similar results as far as the stones in the stomach and intestines, Alluro left TugMug's quarters deep in troubled thought.He now knew what was at the root of their illness, but he hadn't the slightest notion how he might cure it.There was no way to get the rock out of them without breaking it up or surgically removing it.The former he had no idea as to how he might accomplish, and the latter he wasn't even going to think of trying.His skills with a blade were less than delicate, and he'd do far more harm than good if he were to try.

It also did not help that he was distracted… for as much as he tried to concentrate on solving the problem of the fossilized food, he was plagued by troublesome thoughts about Chilla's other situation.The one involving her unborn, changed to stone, child.His child.

At least he was fairly sure it was his.While he and Chilla never discussed their relationship in much detail, he had a hard time imagining her being so close with any of the others.And now he had no idea what to think.The news that she expecting would have been shocking enough, and he was compelled to wonder why she never said anything.Surely she had to have known if she was as far along as it appeared.He wasn't sure whether he felt relief, regret, or perhaps a bit of both, learning about it now when it was something that might never be.

_Might?Alluro questioned inwardly.__It's stone, where's there a "might" in that?He shook his head and continued walking.This sort of brooding wouldn't get him anywhere._

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he nearly walked into Luna and Amok passing him in the hallway."Watch it," Luna snapped impatiently, placing a second hand on the flask she held to steady it.When Alluro stopped short and stepped back, Luna looked him over."You look like hell," she informed him bluntly.

Ordinarily he would have come back at her with some snide remark but this time he didn't bother.Instead he looked at the container she held and frowned."What is that?"

"I did a little research of my own while you were checking on TugMug, and prepared an herbal brew which should solve at least one of Chilla's problems," she said as Amok opened the door to Chilla's room and went in.

Alluro followed."Solve how?"He glanced over at the ominously still form of the resting Chilla for a moment before returning his attention to Luna.

Luna opened the top of the flask, swirled it a bit, and sniffed at it for a moment."This is a concoction of steeped Maka leaves and Firis ivy—Third Earth plants that have a similar chemical component to them as the root of the four-point Braechik plant found on the Third Moon of Plundarr."Alluro looked back at her blankly, so she continued to explain."Braechik tea is mildly toxic.When enough of it is taken, it will cause muscular contractions… and in expectant females, can induce miscarriage."

Alluro blinked at her matter-of-fact tone in discussing such a matter."What?"He then shook his head."I'm not even going to ask why you know that."

"Back on the Moons of Plundarr it was very unseemly for nobles to conceive children in, shall we say, inappropriate circumstances.During my time growing up in the noble circle, I learned that more than a few noble women had used Braechik tea to discreetly take care of such problems," Luna explained.

Alluro looked at Chilla again, watching her chest rise and fall shallowly with labored breath as she slept."I don't want you to give her that."

Luna narrowed her eyes.She was getting tired of Alluro constantly questioning her actions."It has to come out somehow," she replied with rising irritation."And I don't see you operating to remove it anytime soon, given how sick you looked just examining her earlier."

"She's sick enough as it is, Luna," Alluro argued."There's no need to resort to such a drastic measure yet.There might be a way to—"

"What?"She noted the look on his face and shook her head in disbelief."Don't tell me you have some sentimental notion of trying to save it?"When he did not reply, she advanced toward him."It's stone, Alluro.Dead stone.If we don't have it removed her body will eventually reject it on its own anyway… if she survives that long.What do you think all that blood was from anyway?"

"There's a better way than that," he insisted stubbornly.

"Is there?Care to share it then?" she asked sarcastically."Magic, perhaps?Why don't you waste more time and go ask Mumm-Ra to cure her again?"

Alluro scowled and snatched the flask out of her hands."Why don't you?" he replied darkly."Since you obviously have all the answers.Maybe your vast knowledge and sparkling personality will convince Mumm-Ra to save her where I failed to do so," he added, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Maybe I will," Luna retorted angrily."Because I've sure as hell had it up to here with listening to you and your stubborn, stupidly sentimental, negative whining!"Her voice rose to a shrill screech on the last note. She gave Amok a not-so-gentle kick with the heel of her boot, and the two of them stormed out, leaving Alluro alone with the unconscious Chilla.

He sighed and sat in one of the chairs, setting Luna's herbal "remedy" on the nightstand with countless other glasses, bottles, tissues, and other assorted items that had collected there in the course of Chilla's illness.He studied her sleeping form and then noted the limited sun of DarkSide setting over the mountains._It's been a long day, he mused silently.__And it's going to be an even longer night._

# Continued In Part Three


	3. Part Three

**_Stone Sickness_**

Part Three

Mumm-Ra once again awakened from his slumber when he felt the intruding presence of Luna and Amok in his pyramid.His red eyes flickered to life from behind the cold slab of stone as it slid out of his path."What _now," he grumbled with aggravation, and stepped out of his sarcophagus to walk to the edge of his cauldron.First he'd had to put up with a visit from Alluro, then Tygra and Pumyra, and now the troll.All in one infernal day.It was enough to make him want to seal off his dark domain altogether with magic for a year or two.Unfortunately his desire to be rid of the Thundercats made it necessary for him to give his worthless evil underlings passage to see him._

He stood as still as death itself when Luna and her steed entered the chamber and approached the other side of the cauldron.Before she could speak, Mumm-Ra cut her off."What do you want, Luna?" he demanded.

"A favor."

"It's rather presumptuous of you to be asking favors of me when you and your team continue to fail me time and time again."

Luna frowned at his remark and at his tone.How badly she wanted to tell that arrogant mummy what he could do with his condescending attitude… but she held back.There were more pressing matters on hand."Chilla and TugMug are deathly sick—"

"I know," Mumm-Ra cut her off impatiently."Your insolent hypnotist informed me of such earlier."

"And you refused to cure them."

Mumm-Ra smiled poisonously."Is that what he told you?"He chuckled lightly to himself."I never said I would not cure them… he was just not willing to meet my terms."

Luna narrowed her eyes."Enslavement isn't a term any self-respecting Lunatac would agree to."

"If you feel that way, then you are wasting your time as well.Mumm-Ra does nothing for free… least of all random acts of mercy."

Luna tightened her grip on her riding crop as she kept her temper in check."Well you _will agree to it," she pushed, her voice growing shriller in its anger."And you'll agree to do it now!"_

Mumm-Ra's eyes flashed with a dangerous look of warning."Be careful how you speak to me, Luna, lest I fry you into a smoldering purple-haired heap."

"No," the tiny Lunatac leader replied."It is _you that will listen to __me for once.I agreed that my people would work with you to get rid of the Thundercats.Never once did that entail your testing your magic out on them.Chilla and TugMug are on their deathbeds because of you, and I know as well as you do that you have the power to cure them.So dispense with all the pretenses, cure them, and I'll be on my way and leave you to your rest.If you don't—"_

"Threatening me is a very unwise choice," the mage replied in a voice colder than death."I would think you would know that after your last failed insurrection against me."

A calculating smile crossed Luna's harsh features."I also know that if you didn't need us now, you would not have freed us to begin with.And I guarantee you, if TugMug and Chilla die, you will lose more than just two allies.Those of us who remain will be against you with a vengeance."

Mumm-Ra nearly laughed."Is that supposed to be a threat?If I want, I can be rid of two more annoying Lunatacs starting right here and now!"He raised his hand to shoot a blast of red lightning.

Luna cut him off before he could fire."Kill me and Amok and you'll only serve to deepen the motivation for the rest to turn on you.Alluro loathes you as it is, and for what you've done to Chilla, especially now that he's found out that an unborn child of theirs is dead because of you, I can assure you that he'll seek retribution.RedEye I'm sure would also welcome an excuse to repay you for the hell you've put us through since we've been stranded on this planet."

"I'm quaking in my bandages," Mumm-Ra remarked sarcastically.

Luna had Amok advance a few steps toward him as she continued her tirade."Tell me, Mumm-Ra, do you really think you can take out all of us?You who is _so mighty that he can't even take care of a couple of felines without seeking out help from lowlifes like the Mutants?Unlike your planetside Plundarrian friends, we Lunatacs learn from our mistakes and won't let you get the better of us again."_

Mumm-Ra fought an urge to laugh."What can you possibly do to Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living?And how do you think that you or any of your Lunatacs, mere mortals, can possibly stand against me?" he challenged arrogantly.

"Lion-O is mortal, and he defeats you constantly," Luna pointed out."You know," she said, tapping her crop lightly against the palm of her hand, "I wonder how long you'd last if we all teamed up against you."

This time Mumm-Ra did laugh out loud."You expect me to believe that you would join with the Thundercats?That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard you say yet!What makes you think that they would even consider an alliance with you?They despise you and everything you stand for!"

"True, but not as much as they despise you and everything you stand for," Luna countered."And I'm sure that after they hear our heart-wrenching tale… where we tell them how you so _coldly tested your magic on TugMug and Chilla—who was carrying an innocent child no less—and then __cruelly watched them die despite our pleas to you for help… that they will be all too understanding and willing to accept our help in defeating you once and for all.Especially after they lost their dear friend Willa to the same sickness, and perhaps a few of their own.Misery loves company, you know," she with a conniving grin."Of course we'll be __deeply sorry and repentant for all the pain we caused them in the past," she added dramatically."And we'll assure them that we're more than willing to make amends and set things right in light of our new alliance..."_

"As if they would believe that," Mumm-Ra scoffed."All it would take to end that scheme would be for me to blow the whistle on it and show them the truth."

This time Luna laughed."Really?You think after killing Willa, and perhaps Lion-O and Panthro, that they'd believe anything _you said or did?Even if you showed them a vision of this very moment it would only look like a cheap attempt at undermining the newly forged alliance."The tiny Lunatac then faced the now less-than-amused Mumm-Ra eye to eye with a deadly serious expression of her own."I'm sure I don't need to tell you how the Thundercats will react if we go to them.But don't mistake me, this isn't a threat, Mumm-Ra… it's merely a—shall we say—__prediction of what will happen if you choose not to heal Chilla and TugMug to the state they were in before the stone spell was cast.You of course have a choice.You can choose to heal them and leave things in your favor, or you can choose not to and make your goal of conquering this planet that much harder.It's your call, naturally."_

Mumm-Ra glared at her, his sinister red eyes alit with contempt and hatred as he contemplated her words.While it was true that he had no fear of her or the other Lunatacs, if they were to ally themselves with the Thundercats against him it would be an added inconvenience and setback to his ultimate goal.Once again he cursed himself for releasing Luna and her crew from the molten rock._I knew I should have left them there as an ugly statue for all eternity, he thought ruefully._

He saw Luna eyeing him expectantly for a response.With displeasure he returned her gaze with a contemptuous look of his own."You are by far the most arrogant, scheming, manipulative, and insolent wretch of a creature I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with.While nothing would give me greater pleasure than watching you and your entire degenerate crew die a slow, miserable death, I will grant you this favor and cure them… if for no other reason than to keep from hearing your thrice-cursed, obnoxious voice for a moment longer."

Mumm-Ra then stepped up to the very edge of the murky pool.He stretched his arms over the water and summoned a vision of the sick Chilla and TugMug.When the images took shape, the dark mage chanted a verse of healing magic in an ancient and dead tongue.As soon as the final word was spoken, a powerful beam of blinding blue light shot from each of his hands.Both rays reached through the supernatural waters and through the very core of Third Earth itself until they reached their intended targets and surrounded both of the ill Lunatacs in their energy.Luna watched the scene in amazement as life and vibrancy poured back into them, healing in seconds the all damage that the internal stones had done over the course of the last day and a half and turning the stones themselves back into that which they had been before the spell was cast.

Once the magic finished and the waters of the cauldron calmed, Mumm-Ra stepped back and turned toward his sarcophagus."It is done," he told Luna neutrally."You may leave now."

Luna tapped Amok to take her toward the exit, smiling satisfactorily."And I thank you for your generosity, Mumm-Ra," she replied with false politeness."Until next time," she called out as she and Amok left, leaving Mumm-Ra to his rest.

* * *

While Lunatacs were grudgingly given their magical cure by Mumm-Ra, the Thundercats were busy muddling through their own means of healing their friends.Unfortunately things were not going as smoothly as Tygra originally hoped.Once they packed up all the equipment from Panthro's room and transferred it to Lion-O's chambers, they discovered that while Lion-O had stone deposits in his system, the vast majority of them were already in the intestinal tract as opposed to the stomach as they had been in Panthro's case.

They had given Lion-O the formula and oil mix in a similar manner as they had to Panthro, but just like it did to him, Lion-O threw it all up within minutes of administration.It was enough to take care of the stone fragments in his stomach, but that was it.Tygra had no choice but to give Lion-O a second dose of the formulation.When Lion-O once again threw it back up long before even a fraction of it might have been digested or released into the intestines, Tygra realized he had another setback to contend with.

It was only a few moments after Lion-O vomited the second administration that a distressed-looking Pumyra stuck her head in the doorway."Tygra, can I see you out here for a moment?"

Tygra nodded and followed her back out, closing the door behind him.He figured that whatever she had to say would probably best be not within earshot of their sick Lord if she had called him aside to discuss it. "What is it?" he asked.

Pumyra sighed."It's Panthro.I gave him the second dose of your medicine just like you said and it made him violently sick all over again within minutes.I know not a drop of it was digested… and he's already lost so much fluid and is so weak from being sick… I just don't think it's a good idea to try and give him any more."

"I see," Tygra said with a weary sigh."I can't say I'm surprised.The same thing just happened with Lion-O.Apparently this mixture of chemicals is too toxic for the body to accept in an oral dose.But the fact still remains that we have to get those stone deposits out of their intestines somehow."

Pumyra thought for a moment."Well, we could try putting a tube in, um," she searched for a polite way to phrase it, "the other end."She then blushed with embarrassment.While in her training as a healer she was used to the idea of such things, the thought of actually having to do it to a mighty warrior like Panthro and the Lord of the Thundercats himself, was even more embarrassing.

Tygra wasn't thrilled with that idea either, but if it had to be done, then of course they would do it."That's an option.Provided we can insert the tube far enough in to reach all the deposits.But it would be a very long and tedious process.The intestinal tract is very, very long."He paused and thought some more."The only other suggestion I can think of would be injecting it directly above a stone deposit so that it would dissolve on contact.But that would require a very long needle and very careful insertion."

"If we had the X-ray machine on and we could determine where the deposits were, I could probably guide a needle in.Do we even have needles the proper size for that though?"

Tygra sighed again."They could be constructed, though usually that's Panthro's field of expertise.I'm more of a design-oriented type by nature, and I don't really have the time I think it would take to make them myself.I know it will take at least another hour or two for me to make a second batch of the treatment.We lost most of what we had in giving them the oral administration.I know there isn't enough left to take care of all the remaining stone in both of them." 

"Hmm," Pumyra said thoughtfully."You know, if you can write down the specifics of what you would need in these needles, I bet that Bengali could make them fast.Being a blacksmith he has lots of experience in crafting metal.I could call over to the Tower of Omens now and give him the information."

Tygra brightened, as that hadn't occurred to him.Perhaps things weren't as dire as he thought."That's an excellent idea!Get me a sketch pad, and we can get started."

One and a half hours later, Bengali dropped off a carefully wrapped package of forty brand new needles, specially tempered and treated in a sterile solution of alcohol as per Tygra's request.As Pumyra guessed, they hadn't taken him long to make.The hardest part had been crafting the first and making a mold for it, and after that each duplicate took only a fraction of the time.Even changing the lengths hadn't been that difficult, as he simply shortened the mold a little each time.

Though he was not directly needed in the Lair after his delivery, Bengali chose to stay anyway.Ever since he had heard the news of Lion-O and Panthro's sickness, not to mention Willa's death, he wanted to do whatever he could to help.Fortunately things were quiet as far as enemy attacks went, and Lynx-O had assured him when he left that he and Snarfer could take care of any situation that might arise.

"So when do we try to treat them again?" Bengali asked WilyKit, who had met him in the hangar.

"I'm not sure.Snarf said Tygra's still in his lab working on making more of that stuff last I heard."

"How are Lion-O and Panthro doing?"

WilyKit gave a little shrug."Panthro's a lot better than he was before, he's staying awake and Pumyra was able to get him to eat a little bread and juice, and he hasn't gotten sick on it yet.But Tygra said that was because most of the stone in Panthro was in his stomach in the first place and that treatment got rid of it.Lion-O's still pretty sick though.He didn't look that much better when I saw him before."

Bengali looked around."Where is Pumyra anyway?Is she with Lion-O?"

WilyKit nodded."Yeah, Snarf is too I think.He's been staying with Lion-O whenever he wasn't needed for anything specific."

"I can't say that surprises me.It's no secret how devoted he is to him."

"Yeah," WilyKit agreed."So do you want to go tell Tygra that the needles are ready?"

"All right," Bengali agreed."Let's go."

The pair of Thundercats made their way to Tygra's lab.Bengali knocked twice, and when they heard Tygra tell them that it was all right for them to come in, they entered.Tygra was standing over his bench, stirring the contents of a large glass flask."I think it's about ready, I just have to wait for it to cool a little more," he told them as they joined him at the bench.He glanced in Bengali's direction."I take it that the needles are ready if you're here?"

"Yes.I think I broke the Thunderstrike's speed records in getting over here with them," he replied."We at the Tower have all been worried sick."

Tygra glanced at the flask holding his cure."Then let's not delay any longer.This should be cool enough by the time we get up there.Let's go."The three of them then went upstairs to Lion-O's bedroom.Snarf and Pumyra were already in there, and as soon as Tygra, Bengali, and WilyKit walked in, Snarf went to find Cheetara and WilyKat while Pumyra and Bengali set up the X-ray machine.Tygra was drawing up the first syringe of the stone dissolving formula when Cheetara, WilyKat, and Snarf came in.

Lion-O, halfway awake, tried to make sense of all that was going on as Cheetara and Snarf sat at his bedside, one on each side."It's all right Lion-O," Snarf assured him."Tygra's going to get rid of all that awful stone inside you, snarf snarf."

Cheetara took Lion-O's hand in hers and squeezed it."This isn't going to be pleasant, Lion-O," she told him softly."They're going to have to use a needle to administer it… and you might need to be injected several times."

Pumyra, now fine-tuning the X-ray machine, paused and met Lion-O's eyes."That's true.And we're going to need you to stay very still while we do it, no matter how hard that is, so we can be as steady as possible."

"I understand," Lion-O answered weakly."I'll be all right.I'm the Lord of the Thundercats after all."

"Snarf snarf… just be careful," Snarf said, giving Pumyra and Tygra a worried look.He didn't like the way those needles looked in the least.

Tygra nodded and walked over to the bed.He nodded to Bengali, Cheetara, and the kittens to help restrain Lion-O, and each took a position by one of his limbs.Pumyra meanwhile focused the X-ray machine over the largest deposit of stone in Lion-O's gut.Holding himself steady as possible, Tygra placed one hand on the skin and carefully guided the needle into it.

Lion-O growled involuntarily and flinched as the sharp metal punctured his skin.Instinctively the other Thundercats held him down as Tygra pushed the needle in further and dispensed the treatment.Lion-O's growl grew louder."Gods of Thundera… that burns," he groaned through clenched teeth.It took every bit of strength he had to keep from fighting.

As soon as it was out, Tygra quickly withdrew the needle.The other Thundercats relaxed a bit, but Tygra held up his hand to indicate for them not to."Don't let him move yet… if it leaks away from the stone we'll just have to do it again."He turned to Pumyra."Is it working?"

"It's bubbling… and it looks like the deposit might be getting smaller."A silence fell over the room as those who were able to watched the black and white picture on the X-ray machine's readout.Slowly but surely the bubbling mess that was the largest stone deposit in Lion-O's system began to clear, showing a marked reduction in size.They breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank Jaga, it worked," Tygra said."But there's no time to celebrate yet.We've still got a lot to do here."He drew up another syringe full of the formulation.

Pumyra smiled."Well, as Panthro would say, if we're going to do it—"

"—Let's do it," Tygra finished with a small smile.

The Thundercats worked diligently for the next hour on their young Lord, finding and systematically eliminating every stone deposit that was too large to pass through his system naturally.By the time they had gotten the worst of them dissolved, they were already able to note a significant improvement in Lion-O's condition.He was not recovered by any means, between the painful injections and the toll that the condition had already taken on his body, but he did say that the stabbing pains in his gut had subsided.

After giving Lion-O a quick examination to determine his condition, Tygra suggested that they give him a strong laxative and plenty of fluids.He explained that it was to flush the remaining stone fragments, as well as the toxic chemical by-products of his formulation, out of his system entirely as fast as possible.Snarf, who was all too happy to finally be able to do something of real help, then hurried downstairs and made a medicinal recipe he learned form his Aunt Esmerelda that was "sure to make anything go right through ya in no time at all".

Satisfied now that they had done all they could for Lion-O, the others then moved onto Panthro.Fortunately he needed far fewer injections of the solvent, and the smaller stone deposits in him dissolved much more quickly than the ones in Lion-O.In a matter of twenty minutes they were finished treating him as well, and for the first time all day they all felt genuinely hopeful and relieved.

Just as they finished packing up the X-ray machine to be taken back downstairs, WilyKat approached Tygra and Pumyra."So is that it?Are they cured now?"

Tygra sighed and looked over at Panthro.His old friend looked tired, and while he still appeared to be in better shape than Lion-O, he had certainly seen him looking better.WilyKit was at his bedside pouring him a fresh glass of juice to go with the laxative Snarf was in the process of making for him, while Cheetara was rearranging his blanket and pillows to make him more comfortable.

Pumyra put a hand on Tygra's forearm for support, and as a silent reminder to him to be delicate with his wording.She knew that there was no definite answer to the kitten's question, and she knew Tygra well enough to know that he would not lie to him.He smiled faintly for a moment and faced WilyKat."We've done all we can for them."

"So what do we do now then?" he asked.

Tygra sighed."Now we wait."

* * *

Alluro didn't know that he had fallen fast asleep in the chair at Chilla's bedside until her rasping voice and a sudden jerking motion snapped him back into consciousness.He blinked in the darkened room and looked at her in surprise.She was not only awake, but sitting upright with the covers drawn tightly around her, save for one blue arm that had shaken him awake."Chilla?"

"What are you doing in my room?What's this mess?What's going on?" she demanded.

"You're awake," he murmured, still shocked.She had been comatose last he saw her… how was it possible that she had recovered so quickly, he wondered.

"I want to know what all this is and I want to know now," she insisted, pointing to the half-empty vials of medicines and discarded ice packs littering the nightstand and floor by her bed.She leaned forward, then shrank back slightly when she remembered she wasn't wearing anything other than her bedclothes.

"You were very sick, Chilla," Alluro started."I thought you were—we thought you wouldn't survive the night," he stated, still trying to figure out how she recovered so miraculously."You had a very high fever and weren't even conscious."She eyed him with a curious, somewhat distrustful expression, but listened to what he was saying.When he saw she wasn't going to interrupt, he continued."You and TugMug both became violently ill over last night."

She nodded slightly."I was feeling sick to my stomach so I went to lie down.I got a little worse over the night."

"That's all you remember?" Alluro asked.

She nodded again.

"You got more than 'a little worse', Chilla.You developed a fever that peaked at seven and a half degrees above your normal body temperature, and you became delirious.Luna and I tried treating you—and TugMug as well—but nothing we tried worked."

"TugMug was sick too?"

"Yes.He started throwing up.He threw up stones."

"Stones?" Chilla repeated incredulously.

Alluro nodded."Stones.It made us suspect Mumm-Ra's magic was at fault, since you and TugMug were both changed to stone by that spell he cast with that Norvog Nage book.As it turns out, we were right."

"What do you mean?" she questioned, shifting position as she awaited his answer.

"I confronted Mumm-Ra about it, and while he was no real help, I happened to run into two Thundercats there to have a word with him about the same thing.Two of the felines were also stricken with an ailment like yours, as was the Warrior Maiden Queen Willa.The human succumbed to it."

"Hmph, one less stubborn primitive to get in our way," she remarked with a shrug.

"Anyway," Alluro continued, "with that in mind I decided to use the medical scanner I put together a few months back to see if that would show us what was making you so ill.We found stone deposits all throughout your body.It seems that that which wasn't…" he paused as he searched for the right words "…exactly you wasn't changed back from being stone when you were restored."

She frowned as she tried to understand what he meant, and failed."Like what?"

"What you ate, mostly… and…" he looked away, and changed the subject."But how _did you recover, Chilla?I had no idea how to treat your condition, and Luna—"_

"Did what you couldn't manage to do," his leader's shrill voice interrupted as she entered the room.

Alluro whirled around in surprise, while Chilla turned to glare at her barging into her room uninvited."You did this?How?" Alluro demanded.

"Mumm-Ra," Luna answered simply."I pointed out to him that it was in his best interests to cure TugMug and Chilla of the side effects of his spell and he agreed."

"He listened to _you?" Alluro asked incredulously._

"I'm sure you know I can be persuasive in my own way, Alluro," she replied, then looked to Chilla."You're feeling better I see."

Chilla shrugged and shifted beneath the sheets."I'm all right."

"Good.It would seem that Mumm-Ra's spell did its trick then.What about TugMug?"

As if on cue to answer her question, RedEye poked his head into Chilla's room.The now recovered ice Lunatac shrank back further in her sheets, an increasingly annoyed expression on her face."Doesn't anyone knock anymore?" she muttered.

"You're better!" RedEye exclaimed, looking at Chilla."I just came from checking on TugMug, and somehow he spontaneously recovered."His eyes flashed slightly as he eyed Chilla."And now she did too?I thought you said it was hopeless," he said to Alluro.

"I thought it was," Alluro said quietly."There was nothing I could do for them.Luna convinced Mumm-Ra to cure them with his magic."

"Even after he gave you the runaround?"

"So it would seem," Alluro answered, somewhat grouchily.Being shown up by Luna was not something he cared for.

"Excuse me," Chilla interrupted, her voice taking on a distinctly annoyed edge as she shifted once again underneath the sheets, "but do you mind getting out of my quarters, please?"

Luna gave Chilla a nasty look for speaking to her in such a tone, then realized why she said it and relented."Very well, but you should be examined again so we can make sure that your condition was fully reversed.As I'm sure you can understand, I don't exactly trust Mumm-Ra's magic.But right now like to see TugMug's condition for myself.RedEye, where is he?"

"He said he was going to get something to eat.Sounds to me like he's feeling better."

"All right, let's go find him.Alluro, in the meantime, why don't you examine her?" Luna said, already leading Amok toward the door with RedEye following close behind. 

Alluro stood and looked at Chilla, waiting for a reaction.She said nothing and lay back against the pillows.He took that as an affirmative and shut her door once Luna and RedEye left, then walked back over to her bed.She met his gaze as he approached."I was that sick?" 

Alluro nodded and started to set up the medical scanner."It honestly didn't look like your body would survive the stone infection.It was everywhere."He switched the power on and set it on the edge of the bed."Are you sure you're up to this?"

"I feel fine."

Alluro gently pulled the sheet aside, set the scanner on her torso just below her rib cage, and switched it on.Nothing out of the ordinary appeared on the screen, and not a trace of the questionable "inert material" that lit up the screen earlier could be found."It's all gone," he observed aloud."I don't see any stone left whatsoever."

"How much was there?" she questioned.

"A lot," Alluro replied, one of his ears quirking slightly to the side as he answered.He slid the scanner probe further down her abdomen, fighting an increasingly uncomfortable feeling as he awaited the answer to the burning question that he couldn't even bring himself to mention to her.Though he tried to remain outwardly indifferent, he could feel his own heart pounding as he drew the probe over the area where he'd made the startling discovery that she was pregnant earlier.When he didn't find stone, but what the scanner defined as "multiple tissues detected in target area" he exhaled, realizing only then that he'd been holding his breath for several moments to begin with. 

Chilla noticed his intense and serious expression."What is it?" 

Alluro switched the scanner off and looked away as he set it down."Nothing," he replied, a halting note in his voice undermining his efforts to appear indifferent."You're fine.It's all healed."

"So there's no more stone?"

"No," Alluro confirmed, finally able to turn and meet her eyes."Everything changed back.Even… you know."

Chilla blinked, genuinely baffled as to what he was referring to."What?" 

He eyed her more intensely, trying to gauge her reaction."You _did_ know, didn't you?"

Now she frowned, already tiring of his game of twenty questions."Know what?"

"About your… child."

Chilla's eyes widened in shock and mortification."You knew about that?"

"You were bleeding internally, so we used the scanner to try and figure out why.That was what we found."

"We?"

"Luna was there.We discovered that, similar to what you had eaten, you carried a fetus that was not restored back to flesh along with the rest of you for whatever reason, and your body reacted very violently to its presence as stone afterward.But it seems that Mumm-Ra's cure healed not only that but the damage the stone did to your system.There's no evidence of physiological trauma from what I can see."

"I see."Chilla closed her eyes and sighed as it all begin to sink in."You know, I didn't even know for certain."

Alluro raised an eyebrow."Really?"

She shook her head.

"If you needed confirmation, why didn't you just have me run a blood scan?The equipment we have can test for that, so long as I set it to look for it.You could have had your answer in a matter of minutes.How long had you been keeping this to yourself?"

Chilla shrugged."About twenty days or so, maybe twenty five.It's not like the answer wouldn't be obvious sooner or later anyway.Besides, there's been no time to concern myself overly with it, with all the schemes Luna and Mumm-Ra have dragged us into," she said, rolling her eyes slightly, before she sat back up."Just how did Luna react, anyhow?"

Alluro shrugged."You know how Luna is.She was quite surprised… as was I, for that matter."

"Oh." Chilla's voice was devoid of any definable emotion.

"Chilla, when exactly _were_ you going to tell me?"

"When I thought you needed to know," she replied coolly."Certainly not until _I _knew one way or the other."

"You trust me that little?"

"No, I know you too well," she corrected him."Enough to know that telling you prematurely would only complicate matters further."

Alluro frowned."If it's my child that you're having, I don't see what's so complicated in enlightening me to that fact.You know I care for you—"

"And that's exactly why it's complicated," she hissed in exasperation."I'm a warrior at heart.A loner.A fighter.I'm not anyone's mate or ideal, and I don't want to be.And I knew if I told you about this, that you'd do just what I can tell you're doing right now… looking at me in that light."

"I have no desire to have you as someone you're not, Chilla, only as you are," he said, meeting her eyes once more."Do you really think we feel so differently?There is a reason we wound up cast away together, cut off from all but a few of the rest of our people, here on this miserable backwater plant.Despite our quirks in personality, I think it's a safe bet to say that all of us here are warriors, loners, and fighters at heart."He leaned over her, closing in the gap of space between them."And really, what could be more ideal for this child of yours—of ours—than that, to be like his or her parents… and extended family," he added with a wry look as he gestured toward the door.

Chilla smiled slightly despite herself."No child of mine will _ever_ act like Luna, or there will be hell to pay."

Alluro made a face."Perish the thought.And speaking of our 'beloved leader', do you want to tell her the news that you are both healed, then?"

Chilla shrugged."Whatever.Might as well get it over with."Dealing with Luna was never something she enjoyed, and she avoided interacting with her whenever possible.

"What about TugMug and RedEye?"

"How much do they know?Has she told them anything?"

"I don't know, but undoubtedly she will, when the immediate crisis is over.We both know how much Luna loves to talk… even if it's just to hear herself do it."

"She's the _only_ one who wants to hear it."

Alluro laughed."So true."

A knock sounded at the door.Realizing that Chilla was still hiding beneath the covers without a stitch of clothing on, Alluro handed her a robe hanging off the side of the chair near her bedside.Chilla slipped it on, then called for whoever it was to come in.

It was TugMug.Alluro noticed the marked improvement in his condition; like Chilla, the hi-grav Lunatac looked as though he'd never taken ill to begin with."There you are, Alluro.Luna's harping on me to have you give me a clean bill of health.Will you put that scanner thing on me and tell her it's fine and to get her off my case?"

"I guess you are feeling better," Alluro observed."All right.Let's go."Alluro bent over, collected up the scanner and its probe in his arms, and followed TugMug to the door.He stopped in the doorway and smiled back at Chilla, who was now out of bed and stretching."Have fun with Luna."

"I won't," she answered with a smirk.

* * *

The dawn of the next day at Cat's Lair was a much brighter one than the one before it, not only because the day was clear and beautiful, but because unlike the previous morning, there were no groans of pain or heaves of discomfort in either of the sick Thundercats.

WilyKit and WilyKat knocked twice on Panthro's door."Panthro, are you awake?" 

"I'm up, come on in," Panthro's tired voice sounded from inside.

The two kittens opened the door to see Panthro half sitting up in his bed.WilyKit went in first and held the door for her brother, who carried in a tray of food holding some fruit juice and still-hot golden pancakes smothered in candyfruit syrup.WilyKat set it down on the nightstand while WilyKit sat on the edge of his bed."Snarf made some breakfast for you.How are you feeling this morning?"

Panthro smiled."I can say I've felt better, but overall, a heck of a lot better than yesterday."He took a bite of the pancakes."Hey, not too bad… sure tastes a lot better than that medicine Tygra made.That stuff tasted like motor oil."

WilyKat wrinkled his nose."I wouldn't be surprised if part of it _was_ motor oil.You don't want to know how many chemicals he got from your workshop when he was making it." 

WilyKit made a disgusted face."WilyKat!"

"What?"

"That's disgusting!And Tygra wouldn't give Panthro anything like that," she said, her voice lapsing into the lecturing tone that she often gave him when she thought he made a remark that was rude or out of line.

WilyKat frowned."I didn't mean that."

Panthro grinned. "It's all right WilyKat, I wouldn't be surprised if it was motor oil either.Tygra can try just about anything and make it work."

"Yeah, kinda like you and machines," WilyKit agreed with a smile.

"Speaking of which," WilyKat interrupted, breaking into a wide grin, "any chance that you'd let me learn to drive the Thundertank while you're getting better?"

Panthro laughed."Try again in a few years, WilyKat.I'm not _that_ sick."

* * *

Down the hall, Snarf brought an identical tray of juice and pancakes to Lion-O's bedside, and opened the shade when he saw that the young Lord was awake."Snarf snarf, oh Lion-O, how do you feel this morning?" he asked, laying a paw on his shoulder.

Lion-O yawned and stretched, then winced with pain—not from the stone sickness, but from the twenty or so intramuscular injection sites in his lower abdomen."A little sore from Tygra's treatment, but not too bad otherwise," he answered."Though I was in the bathroom half the night."

"Rowr, sorry about that, Lion-O, that was my Aunt Esmerelda's special medicine that Tygra had me give you.It's stronger than half a bottle of Snarfamucil.He wanted to make sure all that awful stuff that dissolved the stone was out of you as fast as possible.And I'm glad, that sure made you sick, snarf snarf.I guess sometimes the cure is worse than the disease."

Lion-O sat up, took the juice, and sipped it."Oh I wouldn't say that, Snarf.It wasn't fun, but it's better than… the alternative."He lowered his eyes in sadness for a moment."Cheetara was in here later last night, and she told me about Willa.I'd like to try and make it to the Tree Top Kingdom to offer Nayda my condolences and pay my respects to Willa.She was a good friend.I can't believe she's really gone."

A worried look crossed Snarf's face."I don't know, Lion-O, I think you should rest.You can go tomorrow."

"I'd like to go now.Especially since what happened to her was indirectly our fault."

"What?"

"Mumm-Ra's evil scheme with the Norvog Nage is what sent the Lunatacs into the Tree Top Kingdom to raid them for that mask.Willa became involved because of that… and she was turned to stone.The sickness that we suffered cost her life.I feel I owe it to go and see Nayda as soon as possible.I know Tygra was there yesterday, but…"

Snarf nodded."I understand, Lion-O," he said with a weary sigh."I don't like it, but I know why you want to.Old Snarf raised you right, even though sometimes it drives me nuts."

Lion-O patted Snarf on the head."I knew I could count on you to understand.But… I do suppose I could stay in bed and finish these delicious-looking pancakes you brought me first."

# The End


End file.
